Blizzard
by Googie
Summary: Castle and Beckett settle down to wait out a blizzard together.  What will happen when they're trapped together?  Romance, injuries... Pure fluff.  FINAL CHAPTER!  Story is now complete.
1. Chapter 1

_**In honor of the blizzard that swept through a good portion of the country yesterday, leaving a 6 foot snow drift in between our house and the neighbor's house and canceling schools and malls and most of life in general, I have crafted this little fluffy ditty to take advantage of my time being snowed in, while the mood is there. This has nothing whatsoever to do with my other story, "The Plan", but I just couldn't resist taking a little detour. Pure fluff, nothing more. If you don't like fluff, stop reading now. Hope you enjoy it.**_

_**By the way, Castle and Beckett are not quite together as a couple yet, but they're not with anyone else either. And as far as where they're going (at least in this story)...you'll just have to keep reading.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the story below. I just like to make sure they have some adventures.**_

* * *

The blizzard was coming.

They'd been at Castle's Hamptons house since the middle of the afternoon on the previous day. It was just the four of them: Castle, Alexis, Martha and Beckett. The group of detectives were scheduled for some time off anyway, after a series of back to back murder cases, and with the impending storm coming, the family decided to get out of the city and go to the Hamptons until the city was cleaned up again. The storm was supposed to be bigger than the one six years ago, and that one had resulted in around two feet of snow being dumped on them in about a day, so 'bigger' in reference to that was really saying something.

On the spur of the moment, Alexis had called up Kate and asked her to come along with them; she knew they didn't have to work for several days, and she cajoled Kate into coming with them to help her with her homework. Her private school had been canceled for the next two days in with the advanced warning of the impending storm. Alexis figured that since she was going to be snowed in, she might as well do something useful. And Kate could actually _help_ her with her French, as opposed to her dad, who absolutely murdered the pronunciation, and her grams, whose sum total of knowledge of the French language consisted of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?"

Kate had agreed, thinking that Alexis' proposal sounded a lot better than staying in the city (where she would probably end up going into work anyway). So the foursome arrived at the house with warm clothing, movies, games, french textbooks and enough comfort food to last them for a week. Kate had sat in the back with Alexis on the drive, looking over the girl's homework to find out how accomplished she was at the language. She didn't want to go too fast and confuse her. Every so often, Kate would say something in french and Alexis would tentatively reply. Castle thought it was cute, until the french got more animated and the laughing started. Then, he got paranoid. What were they talking about? Martha just sat in the front seat with earplugs in, dozing. By the time they arrived at the house and had everything unloaded, he'd had about five different yet involved-and all highly inappropriate-scenarios running through his head. When he showed Kate to her room, he closed the door and leaned against it. "Okay," he told her. "Now we're alone."

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "God, Castle, that is so cliche. I thought you were much more subtle than that. That's just...desperate or something."

A bemused, crooked smile appeared on his face. "While the direction that you're going is quite interesting, I must point out that you're misreading my intentions. And I'm not desperate. But anyway, what were you and Alexis talking about?"

"When?"

"In the car. In another language."

"We were working on her French."

"But what were you _talking about_? You were laughing and giggling and...that doesn't sound like homework to me. That sounds like when she and Paige talk about the cute boys. But you don't...you don't talk about cute boys anymore. You talk about...other things," he finished, sounding very wary.

She stared at him before she started laughing. "Rich, Castle, really rich. You actually think I was giving your daughter-your _teenage_ daughter-some sort of a sex talk? Regaling her with the experiences of my wild ways? In french, _la langue d'amour_?"

He gulped. She could see he was worried about that last bit of french she spoke.

"God, Castle. French, the language of love-that's all I said. And you really think I'd do that? But no, we didn't talk about anything but your bare butt."

"What?" he squeaked.

She laughed again. "For some reason, her class is doing some beach-themed unit in the middle of winter. So we were talking about the beach. I tried to just get her talking, so she could practice putting things together on her own; not from a textbook or an assignment, you know? And Alexis regaled me with the story of how you were tubing one time and lost your shorts. When she had a bunch of her friends visiting. Sent those poor girls running into the house."

"Oh, yeah. It was for her thirteenth birthday. None of those girls could look at me for months." He raised wary eyes to hers again. "Are you sure that's all it was?"

"That's all it was. You can have all of the uncomfortable sex talks. That's part of being a parent, right? Now, how about you give me a tour of the rest of this hotel?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They'd fixed dinner together, with Kate taking her role of french tutor to heart by quizzing Alexis on the names of the different foods that they were preparing. The laughter continued, but this time mainly because Kate tried to include Rick in the tutoring session. He was a dedicated student, and he did show some improvement, but Alexis was just not used to her father speaking in a different language and it was hard for her to keep a straight face.

The snow and wind had started in earnest while they were making dinner, and when everything was cooking, they went over to the window just to watch it. Through the lights at the edge of the back deck overlooking the ocean, they could see the thick snow blowing and swirling in the wind. It made Kate cold just thinking about it. Turning back to the kitchen area, she realized how nice it was inside, with the warmth and the laughter. She was having a good time.

After dinner, Martha retired to her room to make a few phone calls. Rick started a fire in the fireplace (which didn't really involve much since it was a gas fireplace) and grabbed an armful of fleece blankets out of the closet, tossing one to each of the ladies. "Movie time!" he declared, wrapping one of the blankets around him and plopping down in the middle of the comfy-looking couch. Alexis quickly followed suit, sitting on his left side. As both Castles settled in and started looking at the TV, Kate was wondering what she should do. The only place left to sit on the couch was right next to Rick, and while it seemed a little to familiar and intimate to be cuddling on a couch with Rick and his daughter, she thought it would look overtly strange if she sat anywhere else.

She pretended to be fiddling with the blanket when she heard Alexis say "Come on, Kate, get over here so we can put the big one over our laps."

"Uh, it's pretty warm in here already, especially with the fire." Kate tried to deflect the girl.

"But the temp outside is supposed to get colder. And we're in the middle of a blizzard. You _have_ to snuggle under blankets when you're in the middle of a blizzard. Come on."

"Yes, Detective, come on. I promise I won't bite," Castle added. Kate, not able to think up another excuse and not wanting to make things more awkward, acquiesced and, after wrapping herself in her blanket as the Castles had done, sat down next to Castle, but was careful not to touch him. After she was settled, he leaned close to her and continued with his previous thought, "not unless you want me to." She rolled her eyes at him and he grinned, but all from a respectable distance away.

They began the movie, but stopped it after only about ten minutes when Alexis realized that they didn't have any movie snacks. Rick promptly jumped up and went into the kitchen to satisfy his daughter's wish, and Alexis and Kate filled the movie void by engaging in another impromptu french lesson.

Rick came back several minutes later with a bowl of popcorn, hot chocolate for Alexis and a bottle of wine and two glasses, obviously for him and Kate. Giving the mug of hot chocolate and bowl of popcorn to Alexis, he set the wine down on the table behind the couch and poured some in their glasses. When he came to sit down again, Kate realized that she and Alexis must have moved closer together on the couch while Rick was away, because it seemed when he sat down this time, he was a lot closer to them-especially Kate-than he'd been before. Before she wasn't touching him at all and had, in fact, almost a foot of space between them. Now, her leg was touching his and she didn't want to seem nervous or prudish by jumping back to put a more reasonable distance between them. So she sat still. She didn't move a muscle as he started the movie again. And all was fine.

At least until he remembered the wine. Then he had to reach his arm back toward the table, and he had to turn his body toward Kate. It brought their faces and bodies in pretty close proximity, a fact that wasn't lost on either one. But after a look when he realized how close she was, he finished reaching back for the wine, grabbing both glasses and handing her one. "Here," he told her. "Can't get much better than this. The storm is out there, and we're in here under blankets with a good bottle of wine. With _excellent_ company, if I do say so myself." Then he raised his glass and clinked it with Alexis' mug, and then with Kate's wine glass.

The hot chocolate and wine toast-with popcorn, no less-served to dispel some of Kate's unease about being basically snuggled against Castle. Well, not really, but she almost felt that way, since she just about never sat with him in a purely non-work related setting like this. Well, actually, she _never_ sat with him like this at all. But he did have a point, after all, and she had to admit it was better being here, with company, than it would have been at her apartment, alone. So she relaxed (or tried to) and enjoyed the movie.

Alexis proved to be a good distraction for the rest of Kate's unease. Every once in a while, Alexis would ask her how to say something in french, a line from the movie or the name of some object. They would lean forward around Castle and talk to each other, and he'd look from one to the other like he was watching volleying in a tennis match. She ended up talking to Alexis so much that she didn't even realize it when she tucked her legs up on the couch, and turned to face Alexis-and consequently her father-a bit more. Kate didn't realize it when she put her arm on the back of the couch so she could rest her head on it. And she didn't realize it when, after a couple of refills of wine and after her bookend was fast asleep on her father's left shoulder, Kate's own head slipped from her arm on the back of the couch as she fell asleep herself, and she unconsciously just moved it to a more secure and convenient location, which happened to be Castle's shoulder, while she took her arm and wrapped it around his.

Rick, when he felt this, was kind of afraid to breathe, let alone even move, lest Kate wake up and clobber him. Of course, he did have Alexis next to him, and he could always use her as a shield because he knew that Beckett would never hurt his daughter. And with that thought, he settled back against the couch himself, and enjoyed the sensation of his two favorite women snuggled against him while the blizzard raged outside.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kate woke up to find herself hugging a warm pillow. It wasn't a very soft pillow, but it was comfortable, and it smelled good. It smelled like Castle. On that thought, her eyes flew open. Her pillow smelled like Castle because it _was_ Castle! She'd fallen asleep against the man, and was now hugging his right arm for dear life as she slept. Oh, this would _not_ do, not at all. She'd never hear the end of it. She slowly extricated her arms from around his, so as not to wake him. Then after a last look at he and Alexis-they did look cute, laying there sleeping together like that-she stole up to her room and spent the next forty five minutes trying to feel as warm and content in the bed as she'd just felt while laying against Castle's arm.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She knew when it was the morning, but one glance out the window told her that the storm had not yet stopped. She could hear the wind rustling outside the windows. After she crawled out of bed, she went over to the window to see the confirmation that sure enough, the storm was still in full swing. She grabbed her robe and put on some thick, pink fuzzy socks and went downstairs. On the way down the stairs, she was assaulted with the tantalizing aroma of...something. She couldn't quite place it. She went down to the kitchen and found Castle typing on his laptop with a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee next to him. "Good morning," she said, announcing herself.

He smiled up at her, not entirely prepared for the sight of her in a robe, fresh from her night of slumber. Her first thought of him was that he looked really cute with his hair mussed from sleep like it was. "Is Alexis up yet?" she asked.

"Are you kidding? She's a teenage girl. Isn't there some rule that says you can't wake up before 10:00 if you don't have school?"

"Actually, it's 11:00. So then you have a reason to skip breakfast and just have a light lunch. That's how teenage girls watch their weight. Then you have a better chance of fitting into your skinny jeans when you go out with your friends that night."

The smile disappeared from his face. "Oh, I didn't realize that. I'm going to have to make sure she eats enough. Breakfast, yes," he said, as if reading a mental checklist. Then he fixed a direct look on her, one that showed his parental worry. "You don't think she's doing some excessive dieting thing, do you?"

He looked so worried that she couldn't mess with him any longer. "Castle. I'm yanking your chain. From what I've seen, Alexis is fine."

"Really? I mean, I haven't noticed anything either, but what if she's just..."

She patted him on the shoulder. "Relax, Castle. She's fine. She's just a normal girl." Then, as if seeing the familiarity that she was exhibiting, she pulled her hand away and tried to change the subject. "Something smells good. What is it?"

He smiled at her compliment and let the subject drop. "Breakfast casserole. Little bit of everything. It's almost done. Let me grab you some coffee."

He pushed her down in the chair next to him and poured her a cup of coffee. Then he moved to the oven and got the casserole out. Neither one spoke of her falling asleep on his shoulder, although there were a few loaded looks between them. After the breakfast casserole cooled for a few minutes, he cut them both generous slices. When it was cooled, she put a bite in her mouth, tasted it, and her eyes got big. "Oh," she said with her mouth full, "this is really good."

"Thanks," he told her.

"Wow, does this freeze well? Because if your book writing ever goes south, you could probably make a fortune selling these to overworked homicide detectives when they get called out of bed at five in the morning."

Rick smiled, pleased because she was eating his breakfast. She ate sporadically as it was, so when he could feed her, he felt that was a success.

"I do have a problem, though," he told her, with a complex look on his face, a cross between apprehension and excitement that only Castle could achieve.

"A problem? With what? Which scented soap to put in the guest bathroom?" she chided, referring to his lack of generally having to deal with the problems that 'real' people had to deal with.

As if reading her mind, he said "No. See, I have someone who clears the snow when it snows around here. I'd rather hire a real person than a service, so I just have one of the local guys that takes care of everything for me."

"Yeah, so?" she asked, taking another bite.

"So, Frank, the guy who does this for me...he slipped on some ice and broke his leg."

"Oh, that's terrible! Was he doing something for you when it happened?"

"No, he was helping his wife do the grocery shopping, of all things. Anyway, he was my guy who clears the snow, like I said. So with him laid up, I don't have anyone to do it."

"Hire someone else," she said simply, giving him the obvious answer.

"I tried some of the services, and they consider it an 'emergency'," he said somewhat sarcastically, doing air quotes, "and they said they can't come out for at least a couple of days."

She got his meaning. "A wee bit territorial?"

"Yes, just a wee bit."

"You'd think they'd want the extra business."

"Guess not."

"So what now?"

"I...um...have to do it myself? If we want to have a prayer of getting out of here before Frank's leg heals or before it's springtime."

"You? You're going to shovel snow? I _so_ want to get a picture of that!"

"Yes...and no. I do have a snowblower. It's in the garage. Frank uses it when his leg isn't broken."

"Okay, no problem then." Then she saw the look on his face. "Right?" she questioned.

"Um...I don't exactly know how to use a snowblower. I've never needed to use one so I don't know how."

"Geez, Castle, how hard can it be?" Beckett asked him. She knew he usually made more drama in things than what there needed to be.

But she didn't know that when you put Richard Castle together with large mechanical objects with which he was not at all familiar, much drama would naturally ensue. It was just an inherent fact of life.

* * *

_**Sorry for leaving it there. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but for those of you who know how I write, the fact that this will be a two-shot shouldn't surprise you. Now, if you think this is awful and just want me to get back to writing my other story, then please let me know, but do it gently. **_

_**I was visiting NYC 5 years ago, and we flew in about a day or two before that big blizzard hit. WOW! Being from the midwest where we have dedicated snowplows, I thought it was pretty funny that they just put plows on the front of their garbage trucks. But hey, it does make a lot of sense!**_

_**Casketty goodness is in the next chapter. It's where I planned to go all along with this, but the story just asked me to be split into two chapters.**_

_**Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Wow, I can't believe the number of story alerts and the general response I got for this little ditty. THANK YOU! I guess the combination of Castle vs. the snowblower (with some Casketty goodness) was just too much of a cliffhanger. I hope I don't disappoint.**_

_**Disclaimer: Same as in the previous chapter-I don't own anyone. Although we do own a snowblower, thank goodness.**_

* * *

Thirty minutes later, they stood in the garage, dressed warmly, looking at the large red machine with handles. Well, actually, Rick was trying to look at the large red machine with handles, but he was having a difficult time due to one Detective Beckett, who after she changed, had appeared in a pale pink, puffy winter parka, with the fur-trimmed hood pulled up to cover her head. And not only that. She had furry white boots on her feet, and her skin-tight blue jeans were tucked into the boots. She looked like a snow bunny. She looked adorable.

But then she spoke, and dragged him back from his world of Beckett-bunny admiration. "Tell me again, why do you have to do this now?"

"Because this isn't the whole storm. Last night was only the first part, I guess, and the worst is yet to come. This is kind of a lull in the storm, at least according to Frank. He told me I should try to get it all done now, and then when the rest of the storm comes in, it won't be as hard to do it again. If we wait and have to do everything at once, it'll make everything that much more difficult because there will be more snow and it'll be heavier and more compact and everything."

"Uh...okay."

"So, anyway, what do we do with this thing?"

"Well," she said, staring at it, "I think the first thing you need to do is get it out of the garage."

"Right!" he said, and opened up the garage door. As the garage door went up, the snow swirled into the vacuum of the garage, taking Kate's breath away. "Whew! That's cold!" she exclaimed.

Rick grabbed the blower and pushed it out of the garage, remarking on how heavy the thing was. They couldn't get that far, because a three foot snow drift had decided to situate itself right in front of the door. Kate grabbed a shovel from where it was hanging on the wall of the garage and started to shovel a path in front of the snowblower. "Why are you shoveling? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of using a snowblower?" he asked her.

"It's a snowblower. Shouldn't it be outside in the snow? Besides, aren't these things loud? Do you really want to start it up in here?"

He shrugged. "Guess not." He pushed it into the clear space that she had cleared right outside the garage, and then he stood there, looking first at one side of the machine, and then at the other.

"Are you trying to start it with mental telepathy or something?" Kate sarcastically asked Rick when he didn't make a move to touch the machine.

"That would be nice. There's no key. There's not a place to even put a key if I had one. How are you supposed to start something with no key?"

"Do a dance for the secret snowblower god?" she suggested, which elicited a 'funny, ha ha' type of look from Rick. She laughed. "I think you need to pull that cord." Kate pointed to a cable with the bright red plastic handle attached.

He reached out and pulled the cord slowly. She shook her head. "No, you have to yank it back really fast, to start the engine or whatever. It's like an old lawnmower. Haven't you ever seen someone start a lawnmower?"

"Sure. With a key."

"Castle, we don't have keys. You have to let it go."

"Okay, fine. Here goes nothing. Stand back. I don't want to hurt you."

She moved out of the way and he took the handle in his hand. He braced his legs and counted up to three. On three, he gave the cord a mighty yank, so mighty, in fact, that his hand slipped out of his glove from the force of the quick pull, and the fast, fierce momentum from his pull combined with his hand no longer holding onto the cord made him lose his balance, and it propelled him into the snow drift behind him.

Kate put her gloved hand over her mouth to try to stifle some of her laughter. The look on his face was one of unmitigated surprise. "Uh, Castle? Maybe that was a little bit too much of a yank."

"You don't say," he said dryly as he got up and brushed himself off. He went over and grabbed his glove out of the handle. Unfortunately, it didn't want to cooperate and he ended up in a tug of war to get the glove out.

Kate watched the fight with further amusement, finally telling him, "I think so far, it's snowblower, two, Castle, zero."

"Okay, snow bunny, since you find this so amusing, how about you figure out how to get this monster started?"

"Snow bunny?" she asked him with a challenge in her voice, taking a step forward until she was face to face with him. "You're calling me a..." she raised her eyebrows at him, "snow bunny?"

He tried to back up but found himself trapped by handle of the snowblower. "Well, uh, yeah. You're wearing furry boots and a pink jacket." His voice got cutesy as he grabbed the fur around her hood. "And you have this cute widdle fur around your hood too. Snow bunny." He gave her an impromptu little peck of a kiss on the end of her nose. "And you're adorable." Then he realized what he did and he jumped back, but didn't get very far because the snowblower was still in back of him.

But she looked surprised too, said "Why did you do that?"

He just shrugged and with a half-smile, told her simply, "You look cute."

She eased back from him a bit before she recovered sufficiently to voice her opinion about his description of her attire. "Castle, this happens to be a very warm down jacket. It's practical. As are the boots. Did you _not_ tell me to bring warm clothing? Yes, I believe you did. And if I hear any mention of snow bunnies at the precinct after this, I'd advise you to start being very careful with your coffee and your chair. If you thought the curse of the mummy was bad, wait till you see the curse of the snow bunny." She backed up and walked around him to look at the other side of the snowblower. "Do you really have absolutely no idea how to run this thing? How can you even own it when you have no clue how to use it?"

"It's for Frank to use! I asked what model he wanted and he told me. And I bought it. He's the one that uses it, not me."

"Well, now I guess it _is_ you. And me too, if you can't get this thing working." She bent over to look at it, and he bent over it with her. "Oh, I remember this! I had a friend and I stayed with her for a week when I was a kid after they moved to a house out in Jersey. Her dad was mowing the lawn and we wanted to see if we could start the lawnmower, you know, if we could pull it hard enough to get it started. You know, we were skinny girls and we wanted to prove we were strong or something. Anyway, we kept pulling and pulling and the darn thing wouldn't start. Then her dad came out and he pushed this little rubber plunger thing a few times and then it started right up."

"A magic rubber plunger?" he asked with a smirk.

"Do you want some help with this or not?"

"Fine. Magic rubber plunger it is. You can do the honors." He held out his hand in invitation.

She pushed the primer a few times. "All right. Try it now. That is, unless you think you strained something before."

"Would you rub it if I did?" She sent him one of her looks and he grinned back at her and grabbed the handle of the cable again. He pulled it, and although this time he didn't end up in the snowbank, the snowblower still didn't start either.

Rather than keep trying what appeared to be a futile endeavor, he bent down to look at the levers and switches again. Then he bent down to look even a little more closely at one of them. "Hey, look at this. There's a lever that has little pictures. There's one of a turtle and one of a rabbit. The tortoise and the hare! I bet that's the control for the engine...fast or slow. Ooo, I'm getting good now!" He was obviously very proud of himself.

Kate bent down next to him to look. "Nice detective work, Sherlock Castle. I guess you did learn something from me after all." As she relayed the compliment, she patted him on the back in a congratulatory way. Perfectly normal, except for two things: first, she didn't normally do that type of thing, and second, with her close proximity, it ended up coming across more like somewhat of an embrace, despite their thick winter clothing. He turned to look quizzically at her, and look of amusement left her face as she realized their position. She quickly dropped her arm and stood up.

"Uh, yeah. Uh, so maybe we should try pushing the lever up and then you can try to pull the cord?" she suggested, trying to get them back on track.

"Slow or fast?" he asked. She looked at him, and although he was talking about the engine setting, she got the strangest feeling that there was more than one meaning to his words.

"Slow, definitely slow," she said very resolutely.

With one last look, and a little salute from him to her, Rick turned back to the machine and pulled the lever up to a little past turtle. Then he grabbed the handle and pulled. This time, they got a definite engine sound out of it when he pulled. A smile lit up Rick's face and he fist-pumped, saying "Ooo, I got it now," before grabbing and pulling the cable with more force.

It took two more tries, but then the engine sputtered to life. He raised his hand and high-fived Kate. Then he looked back at the loud machine. "Okay, now what do I do?" he asked.

"What?" Kate shouted, unable to hear him over the loud noise.

He looked up at her and yelled, "Sorry. How do I make it go? And blow. Snow."

"I don't know." She gestured to the big red thing. "You said you got it. So figure it out."

He looked at the levers and saw one with a bunch of numbered settings. It had a little rabbit by it, so he deduced it was for speed. He moved the lever to the highest setting, but nothing happened. The puzzled look on his face must have alerted Kate, and she touched his arm to get his attention, and then pointed to the the squeeze trigger on the bottom of the handle by the speed lever. He squeezed it and the machine shot forward. Rick wasn't ready for it, but it proved to be a good fail-safe because he let go of the handle and the machine stopped. Kate had jumped back out of the way in surprise, and was now laughing at the shocked look on his face. "Geez, Castle, moderation? Slowly, remember?" she shouted at him.

"Right!" he shouted back and gave her a thumbs up. He switched the speed setting to the lowest and set the machine in motion again, only this time at a much slower pace. Kate, still standing off to the side for safety, gave him an A-OK sign with her thumb and forefinger.

But after several feet, the machine slowed. Rick noticed it seemed to be getting stuck in the snow; it wasn't blowing anything. He was beginning to get a feel for the machine now, so he figured there was some way to turn the auger on. He noticed another lever, just like the speed lever, but on the other handle. He engaged both levers, and amidst a bit of a rumble from the auger starting, the big machine started to spit snow out of its chute on the top.

Right into the face of Kate. Which really did make her look like a snow bunny.

She'd been standing off to the side, out of his way so he didn't run over her again. But they were both caught up in figuring out the various buttons and levers on the machine that neither one of them thought to look at where the snow would be directed once the machine started eating it.

Gross oversight.

Rick's joy at finally figuring out how to make the snowblower actually blow snow was quickly overshadowed by the shock of seeing it directed into Kate's face. He quickly let go of the levers and the machine stopped moving and spitting snow, and just sat there idling loudly. He stood there with his jaw hanging open, not really sure what to do, as she was trying to wipe the snow off her face, blinking her eyes furiously. "Castle!" she shouted, and then after catching sight of him again, started advancing toward him with a menacing look on her face.

He turned tail and ran. Or tried to, through the snow. She gave chase, yelling at him "Castle, you are so dead for that!"

When he got around toward the back of his house, he looked back to see where she was. Just as he turned, he saw a flash of snow-covered pale pink fly through the air toward him, aiming for a tackle. She did tackle him, but the advance warning that he got by his peek allowed him to avoid most of the tackle by turning his body as he fell. So when he did fall, Kate was the one who ended up almost underneath him.

"You are such dead meat!" she grunted, struggling under him in the fluffy snow. The noise from the snowblower wasn't nearly as loud back here.

"It was an accident!" he defended himself, but then as he looked at the woman almost beneath him, laying in the snow, he became entranced by the droplets of snow that had melted into water on her skin, and by the snow that still clung to her eyelashes and to the hair framing her face.

"Castle, that little stunt-" she began, but then her words were cut off as Rick, having lost all train of thought along with all of his willpower or resistance as he stared at her, lowered his lips to hers, claiming them in a tender series of kisses.

Kate immediately stopped struggling once she realized that she was laying in the pristine white snow, being kissed by Castle. Kissed! By Castle! And very nicely, she thought. She broke away, having grabbed his face to pull it away from hers because she couldn't back away. His eyes bore into hers, seemingly as shocked as she was by the sudden kiss. But even though neither had intended for it to happen, they could both read the sudden desire in each other's eyes amidst the confusion of their new position. Kate's eyes flitted between Castle's eyes and his mouth, and she realized that even though she hadn't planned on this at all, she wasn't ready for it to be done yet. The bell had been rung, it couldn't be unrung, and she wanted to ring it again. Loudly. So she grabbed the back of his neck and drew his lips down to hers again.

When he felt her hand at the back of his neck, Rick felt twin stabs go through him-one of relief that she was continuing what he'd started, and the other one desire. When he felt her tongue touch his, he responded by pressing her a little more into the snow, not wanting to let her have a chance to escape from this snow heaven. Their lips worked over each others willingly, feverishly. He only wished that he could touch more of her skin than just her lips, but they were both clothed for the weather and had no other bare skin exposed other than their faces. They both melted into the kiss, taking it slowly and savoring the new feelings between them.

After several minutes of laying there, their kisses slowed and they reluctantly pulled away from each other. They opened their eyes and looked at each other, still seeing the same people they'd been an hour ago, but now seeing so much more too. Their eyes were dark with desire, and now that desire was openly directed toward the other person; no curtains, no looking away, no trying to hide it. And also in each others eyes they saw possibilities, although neither was willing to acknowledge those possibilities quite yet.

Kate broke the silence first. "My butt is getting cold." Then she gave him a small smile.

At the sight of her smile and the words of her light comment, he knew they were okay. He grinned back at her and pushed himself back and stood up, then reached his hands down to help her up. "Want me to help you brush it off?" he asked with that suggestive tone that he did so well.

"No," she told him plainly. But then with a suggestive tone of her own, she added "not _this_ time." And she sauntered off toward the front of the house, walking through the tracks that they'd just made. "Come on, Castle," she shouted to him, "the snowblower is still running and you still have a bunch of snow to take care of before the rest of the storm hits."

Rick followed Kate back around to the front of the house, never noticing the woman trying to hide herself in the curtains of one of the upstairs bedrooms as she looked out over the back yard. Martha stood there with tears in her eyes and a big smile on her face, so happy to have seen that her son and the lovely detective had finally, _finally_ decided to dig their heads out of the sand and do something about the sparks that flew between them.

And that was going to make the rest of this little getaway very interesting indeed.

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_**How did you like it? Was it enough of a battle between Castle and the snowblower?**_

_**Like I said in chapter 1, this was supposed to be a one-shot, and then it morphed into a two-shot. So is it better to just end it here, and let you leave the rest of it to your imaginations, or continue it? Let me know what you think!**_

_**Reviews are always appreciated! Many thanks to those of you who took the time to share your thoughts with me about the previous chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I'm amazed...truly, thoroughly amazed. I received more reviews for Chapter 2 of Blizzard than for any other single chapter that I've written. Wow! You guys are awesome!**_

_**Hope you enjoy chapter 3.**_

_**Disclaimer: the usual, don't own any of the characters mentioned below. Still own the snowblower though, thank goodness.**_

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After she walked around to the front of the house after their little snowy interlude, she'd walked right up to the idling snowblower, adjusted the levers, and started plowing a path down the driveway. She was desperately trying to not think of what had just transpired between them in the back yard, so she'd grabbed the first thing she saw-the reason they were out here anyway-and got to work. And in a way, it was kind of fun, maneuvering the big machine like that. Much better than shoveling, anyway. She'd lost track of where Castle was; she was now lost in her own little world of trying to make the driveway a cleaner, better place, void of snow. She knew she'd have to think about it at some point, and she knew that she'd probably overanalyze it, but she wanted to do that when she was relatively alone, not with the potential of him breathing down her neck at any second. Although if that kiss earlier was any indication, her traitorous mind surmised that him breathing down her neck might not be a bad experience at all.

Then, as if merely her thoughts had conjured him out of nowhere, the object of her ruminations was suddenly behind her, doing _exactly_ what she was worried about. She'd taken her hood down when she was brushing herself off, so she felt the warm breath by the back of her ear as she heard him say "Watching you do that is just _so_ sexy." But nonetheless, even despite her thinking-knowing-that he was likely to invade her personal space, her senses were off because of the thoughts swirling in her brain, and because of the noise of the snowblower, and she never heard or even had any sense of his actual approach. She was lost in her own world of snowblower noise and troubled thoughts that she was trying not to think. So when she felt his breath and heard his words, she was startled, and jumped back so forcefully that the back of her head connected with something hard as she let out a little yelp. She instinctively let go of the handles of the machine and grabbed her head as she turned around to level a glare at the cause of her pain.

But as she turned, she registered the painful exclamations of the person behind her, who was evidently in some pain himself. "Ow, ow, nose, ow..." Castle was saying as he clutched his face. And she could see blood starting to run from his nose.

"Oh, my God, Castle!" She quickly felt inside her pocket for the little purse-pack of tissues that she'd put there in case her nose ran when she was outside. She took off her gloves and grabbed a few, quickly holding them to his nose and then taking his hand to make sure he held them to his face. "Pinch the bridge of your nose," she instructed. He tried to tip his head back, but she put her hand on the back of his head and held it forward. "No, just hold the tissues there and pinch."

"Ow, ow, ow...sheesh, that hurts!"

"Sorry, Castle. I didn't know you were there, and you scared me and I jumped. Your nose must have gotten in the way of my jump." She still had her hand on the back of his head, and after reaching back to the snowblower to shut it off, her other hand hand moved to lightly grasp the elbow of the arm that he was holding to his nose.

"I always thought you had a hard head, but now I know for sure that you really do," he told her, his voice a little bit muffled because of the tissues he held under his nose.

She rolled her eyes, but she kept her hand at the back of his head to make sure he held it forward. As he was waiting for the blood to stop flowing from his nose, Kate unconsciously started to gently run her fingers through his hair, lightly massaging his scalp with the tips of her fingers. She may not have been aware of what she was doing, but Rick certainly was. He was hyper-aware of her close proximity, and the tenderness of her touch on his head. He just about forgot about the pain in his nose and he closed his eyes to savor the feeling of her touch.

They stood there like that for a few minutes, until Kate broke his reverie by asking "So how does it feel now?"

Not really thinking, just enjoying the sensation of her hands touching him, he responded, "Really nice."

"What?" she exclaimed. "You have a bloody nose and it feels 'really nice'?" she tried to clarify, but then became aware of her fingers running through his hair and quickly snatched her hand away.

At her exclamation, he realized that he'd not been thinking about his bloody nose when he answered her first question. Trying to cover, he stepped away from her slightly and said "No, uh, well kind of...uh, it's feeling a little better. I think it's stopping. Do you have any more tissues?"

Grateful to have something to do with her hands after that, she reached into her pocket and handed him another wad of tissues from the pack. "Thanks," he told her. "I'm going to go...yeah, up there, and, uh, throw these away," he told her, gesturing toward the garage. And he took off toward the house.

Kate turned back to the snowblower, thinking to herself, _'Did I just lose my freaking mind'?_ She's barely touched the man in the years that she's known him. But now, in the last twelve hours, she's cuddled up to him and fallen asleep on his arm, put her arm around him twice, then he kissed her nose followed by him kissing her for real, then _she_ kissed _him_ back _really_ for real (and what a kiss it was!), and most recently, after vowing to get a little space, she finds herself running her fingers through his hair. And she didn't even realize it at first! What the hell was wrong with her?

It was probably Castle...he probably spiked his water supply with some aphrodisiac. Yeah. She wasn't in control of what she did. No! She put her hands to her face and groaned, then ran her fingers through her hair, wincing when she touched the tender part of her head where it had come into contact with Castle's nose. Now she was starting to think up Castle-esque wild theories. What the hell was wrong with her?

No, she didn't have time to think about this right now. She could analyze it later. Now, she had to keep busy and get herself back on an even keel. She didn't need to be distracted by this...this... what could she call it? Castle madness? Insanity? Yeah, that about summed it up. She bent down to the snowblower and hit the magic rubber plunger button a few times, adjusted the throttle, and then pulled the cord, taking out some of her frustration in her situation by giving the cord a really good yank. Of course, the engine started right away and disrupted the silence of the morning with its loud noise, and thwarted her efforts to get a little more of her frustration out by yanking on the cord more.

She adjusted the settings and started blowing the snow again, now electing to go across the driveway instead of up and down. She got several paths cut across the driveway before she was alerted to the presence of another person. And when she was alerted, it came in the form of a snowball that was thrown and landed with a plop on her arm. She looked over to see the offending party, and spotted Castle, with a red nose and a sly grin, holding another snowball as if he was ready to take aim again. She motioned him over and shouted at him, "What's with the snowball?"

He shouted back "Couldn't risk surprising you again."

She stepped away from the machine and held out her arms, as if inviting him to take a stab at it. "Here, try it."

"Oooo, you're actually letting me drive, Detective?" he asked with a sly grin.

"It's yours anyway, Castle. And it's your house. Why am I doing all the work?" she chided.

"You're just my backup while I had an injury timeout. I'm back in the game now."

She rolled her eyes at him and he turned back to the snowblower with a grin. She stood and watched (well out of the range of the spray of snow this time) while he cut a few more paths with the snowblower, and was suitably impressed that he remembered to turn the chute when he changed directions so the snow didn't get blown onto the already-cleared portion of the drive. After she was convinced that he could handle it, she wandered over to his front lawn area. Getting an idea, she picked up some of the snow and made a snowball. Perfect. She packed a little more snow into her snowball, and then put it down on the ground and started rolling it around the yard, watching it get larger as she rolled. Once again, she got lost in what she was doing as she tried to block out the recent events, so she never noticed the person come up next to her. But luckily, she caught sight of the purple boots before she could be too startled, and she looked up into the smiling, excited face of Alexis.

"Are you making a snowman? Can I help?"

The girl looked like she was still rumpled from sleep, and after Kate took in her attire, it appeared that she'd rolled right out of bed and had put on her outdoor clothing, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas. "Sure! But Alexis, did you just wake up?"

"I heard the noise from the snowblower and I couldn't go back to sleep. And then I saw that was actually _my dad_ working using it! I didn't know he knew how to work a snowblower."

"He didn't. And it was pretty interesting watching him figure it out. I even took a faceful of snow from that thing."

"Oh my gosh! He really did that?"

"He sure did," Kate confirmed.

"I hope you got revenge. If not, I can help," the girl offered eagerly.

"No, I took care of that. I gave him a bloody nose." At Alexis' shocked expression, Kate laughed. "No, I didn't really punch him in the nose. But he walked up behind me when I was using the blower, and he startled me, and my head hit him in the nose when I jumped."

"Ew! But he must be okay then?" She crooked her thumb at him, where he was still happily running the snowblower and didn't seem to be injuring anything else...human or landscaping.

"He's fine now. It didn't seem to bleed that long, so I don't think it's broken or anything." Kate's mind flashed back to how her fingers were lost, playing with the hair on his head while they waited for the nose to stop bleeding. She quickly pushed the thought away and smiled at Alexis. "Etes-vous prêt à faire un bonhomme de neige?"

Alexis looked at her, somewhat puzzled, but trying to decipher what Kate had said. "Is that a snowman?"

"Oui."

"Bonhomme de neige," she tried out the new term. "Oui oui!"

Alexis helped her roll the big ball Kate had been making for the base when it got too big for her to move alone. Then Alexis started on the middle and Kate started on the head, trying to keep up some of the french dialogue as they worked. Soon they heard the snowblower stop and noticed Castle walking out of the garage toward them. "Good morning, pumpkin! You're up early," he told her, walking over to give her a quick hug.

"I heard the snowblower and I couldn't sleep. And then I saw Kate was making a snowman so I came outside right away."

Castle looked at his daughter. "I guess that explains the pajamas." Then he noticed the mounds of snow that they were rolling. "Hey, you're not supposed to make a snowman without me!" he pouted.

"You had work to do. Us ladies are on vacation, and we also happen to be getting some homework done in the process."

Alexis pointed to the mounds of snow. "Bonhomme de neige," she said proudly. Then, looking at him, she said "Hey...votre...nez...est rouge."

Kate looked at him more closely and noticed that Alexis was right. She looked at the girl and, nodding her head, said "Un peu. Mais pas trop rouge." She shrugged.

Castle's head volleying from the previous night was starting again, as he looked from one to the other, having no idea what was being said, although it was obvious it was about him by the way they were looking at him.

"Okay, what is it? Are you talking about my butt again?"

"Dad!" Alexis exclaimed. "Puh-leeze! That was embarrassing enough the first time."

Kate, laughing, gestured to the three mounds of snow on the ground "Bonhomme de neige. Snowman. Or it will be," she explained. "And then your daughter was merely commenting that your nose was red."

"Did you tell her _why_ it was red?" he challenged.

"Yes, I did," she confirmed. "I took full responsibility."

"But you really shouldn't sneak up on people, Dad," Alexis scolded. "So it wasn't all Kate's fault."

He looked at his daughter. "Why do you take the first opportunity to gang up on me with someone else?"

But instead of letting Alexis answer, Kate just said "Stop whining, Castle. Anyway, you know she's right." Alexis just nodded, loving it that Kate could hold her own with her dad and she didn't fawn all over him like she saw so many women did. And she was really nice to help Alexis with her french too.

Just then, Alexis' coat started playing a tune. Alexis took off her glove and reached into her pocket to grab her phone. As she answered it, Rick shook his head. He leaned close to Kate and whispered, "She wanted to come out here so quickly that she couldn't get dressed, yet she still manages to take her phone with her?" She was glad he spoke quickly, because his hot breath that was tickling her ear as he spoke wasn't really allowing her to stop thinking about all of those things she wanted to stop thinking about.

But as soon as Alexis' found out who was on the other end of the phone, her excited squeal was enough to ruin any train of thought, good or bad. Kate watched in amusement as the girl chattered animatedly. Then she put the phone to her shoulder and asked Castle, "Dad, Julia's here too! And Emma and Stephanie came with her! Julia wants to know if I can stay over at her house tonight. Please, Dad? I haven't seen them in forever! Please?"

Rick looked at his daughter, but then became aware of the woman beside him, who had been invited by his daughter for the purpose of helping her with her french. How would Kate feel about Alexis leaving like that? He walked a few steps closer to Alexis. "Alexis, honey, you asked Kate to come with you to help you study. It's not really fair to ditch her for your friends, is it?"

Kate could see Alexis' face fall as she realized how her request sounded. "Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry, Kate! I never meant..."

Kate cut her off. "Alexis, if your dad says it's okay, go be with your friends. It's only overnight. We have another day or two past that. And you can always try to text me in french if you get bored," she joked with a smile. "I'm sure you guys have books I can read if I get bored, or I could always teach your dad some more french."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Go...if your dad says it's okay. Have fun."

Alexis turned to her father. "Dad?"

"What about supplies? The rest of the blizzard is going to hit in a little while. Do they have enough of everything for another person?"

Alexis got back on the phone and asked about supplies, and was assured that everything was fine and the other family had plenty. After she relayed the information to her father, he gave a little shrug and said "Have a good time."

She squealed and got back on the phone, making the final arrangements before hanging up. "Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Kate. I have to go shower!" she said quickly before running toward the house.

"And eat something," Rick called after her, recalling his and Kate's conversation from earlier. He turned to Kate. "Are you really okay with her leaving? I know you came along specifically to help her."

"Castle, it's fine. I'll have plenty of time to help her later. Let her have fun with her friends. Being snowed in with your friends is probably much more fun that being snowed in with your father and your father's..." she paused, not totally sure of how to refer to herself, "...uh...me."

He looked at her for a moment, but then smiled and said "Hey, we have a bum de neige to finish."

She rolled her eyes. "Castle, it's a _bonhomme_ de neige, not a bum de neige," she instructed, pronouncing the word slowly. "And see, I'm teaching you french already."

He got a gleam in his eye and a smug little smile took over his face. "Yes, you are a good teacher. I think I could learn very quickly from you." He stepped a little closer, definitely coming closer to invading her personal space again before continuing. "I especially liked that french lesson in the back yard before. Or shall I say, that french _kiss_ lesson. I know I wouldn't mind some more _lessons_ like that."

Kate's mouth fell open in shock-shock that he would so blatantly bring it up-before she could stop it. She wasn't ready to acknowledge this yet. She hadn't even been able to think about it yet, or dissect it in her own mind!

But then he took another step closer to her, with that smug-and, oh God, _sexy_-smile still on his face...

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Poor Castle. I just love doing silly things to him. Wonder if I can figure out a way to make him trip over a couch in this fic (those of you reading 'The Plan' know what I'm talking about). Oh, and just wait until the second half of this storm hits. It's going to be such a wicked one! Can't you feel it getting cold already?

_**Just a note about the french...I do know some french. And I know I'm using the more formal ways of addressing people; the 'vous' instead of 'tu'. That's the way I learned it way back when, and it was supposed to be a more universal way of learning it. I don't know if it's still done that way, but if so, I figured Alexis would learn it the same way. So if you know French and I'm wrong, Sorry!**_

_**And I can't resist doing a shout-out to the SUPER BOWL CHAMPION GREEN BAY PACKERS and SUPER BOWL MVP AARON RODGERS! Woo hoo! The Pack rules! It was a hard-fought game against a worthy and classy opponent. I was so impressed by the lack of trash talking before, during and after the game. Very refreshing.**_

_**Hope you liked this chapter! Reviews are always very much appreciated!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**I'm back with an update to this story! I cranked out 3 chapters of 'The Plan' that were bugging my brain, so I had to take a little hiatus from this. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews so far! You are all many kinds of awesome for all of your wonderful words! Thank you!**_

_**The actual blizzard that inspired this is now a distant memory, even though the snow remains. And I guess the story remains too, and lives to grow and gain more chapters.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own own any of the characters. **_

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Previously:

_She rolled her eyes. "Castle, it's a bonhomme de neige, not a bum de neige," she instructed, pronouncing the word slowly. "And see, I'm teaching you french already."_

_He got a gleam in his eye and a smug little smile took over his face. "Yes, you are a good teacher. I think I could learn very quickly from you." He stepped a little closer, definitely coming closer to invading her personal space again before continuing. "I especially liked that french lesson in the back yard before. Or shall I say, that french kiss lesson. I know I wouldn't mind some more lessons like that."_

_Kate's mouth fell open before she could stop it. She wasn't ready to acknowledge this yet. And then he took another step closer to her... _

_Chapter 4:_

She stared at him, mouth open. She did NOT expect him to so blatantly bring up their kiss, at least yet. And now he was moving closer to her...

She recovered quickly. She was used to recovering quickly, and she was used to Castle, thank goodness. And she automatically flipped her internal switches to turn on 'seductive' and 'coy'. Because that was the only way to handle him when he was trying to be devastatingly charming. And yes, the man definitely did have charm oozing from his pores.

She pursed her lips together, and then opened them a bit as she bit her bottom lip in between her teeth in subtle move designed to keep him off balance. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind." The tip of her tongue came out and licked her lips, and she left her mouth slightly open before she continued, "But you know, sometimes you find that you're just too _old_ to learn new things. Older parts just don't work the same anymore." She enunciated each syllable perfectly, moving her lips a little more than was necessary. She noticed she was having an effect when she saw his pupils narrow and the teasing smile waver just a bit.

"Au contraire, Ms. Beckett, it appears that I'm feeling quite youthful. Peppy, even. I would absolutely _love_ some more of your 'lessons'." The cocky grin was back on his face. And was he leaning even closer to her?

But after his first two words, she smiled. "Well, Mr. Castle, I would have to say that since it seems that you're so advanced that you already know some french, it looks like you don't need me." And she stepped past him and walked over to the smallest snowball, hiding a satisfied little smirk on her face.

"What? I _don't_ know french! You heard me before! Beckett, I really do not know french. I need _lessons_, Beckett!" He was almost starting to sound whiny.

She tossed a trimumphant look over her shoulder at the sputtering author. "Sorry, Castle, you're busted. _Au contraire _is french. So see, you don't need any more so-called lessons. Now be useful and help me finish the snowman." She started rolling the snowball again, to give her something to do that didn't involve doing something stupid like she'd done in the back yard. She was just going to have to wait this out and try to maintain a calm, cool and collected-and unaffected-facade in front of him.

So just when she gets her own mind straight, what did the man have to do? He came up right behind her-right _smack dab_ behind her-and leaned into her back, with his arms on either side of hers, reaching for the snowball. His body was pretty much wrapped around hers. Oh, great. Her breath hitched as she felt his body right behind hers and the first thought of her traitorous mind was how good it felt. Damn. She took a deep breath and got herself back together. She stopped with her hands leaning on the large ball and said "Castle, what are you doing?"

"I'm helping you finish the snowman," he said innocently.

"Then find your own snowball. This one is mine."

"Territorial now? But we're partners. I help you out. So I'm helping you with _this_ snowball. I think you could really use some help, Beckett."

"Castle, do you realize our positions?" she asked him in a stern voice. "Are you angling for another bloody nose if I happen to uh, forget that you might be there?" Castle reluctantly jumped back, and his nose tingled a little just at the implied threat.

"I think this one is about ready anyway." She moved away from the smallest snowball and walked over to one of the other snowballs a few feet away. "If you want to do something useful, then come here and help me lift the medium one onto the big one. We have to get this thing put together before the rest of the storm blows in."

"At your service." He walked over by her and positioned himself on the other side of the snowball from her. After they both reached their hands underneath it and looked up again, they found that their faces were staring right at each other, and were less than a foot apart. Their eyes locked, and Castle gave her a cocky grin, which caused Beckett to roll her eyes at him. "On three," she told him. "One...two..."

"Wait!"

"What's wrong, Castle? Forgot how to count to three? Or do you want to do the counting, in french?"

"I told you I need more lessons!"

"Fine. One lesson." She held up one finger. "Un." She held up the second finger. "Deux." She added a third finger to the two she already held up. "Trois. Got it?"

His brows were furrowed in some form of concentration, but he nodded.

"Good. Let's try again then, and try not to stop me this time."

"Wait!"

She rolled her eyes again, and then told him "Castle, 'wait' is not a number. When you are trying to count before you do something, you can't keep yelling 'wait.' It's just not conducive to doing whatever you need to do. Now can we please get on with this?"

"No, I just wanted to ask if you're going to say 'go' and we lift then, or if we lift on three, or..." his brows furrowed and she could tell he was trying to get the pronunciation right.

"Trois," she supplied. "French 'R' sound...you'll need to practice. I'll do the counting for now. And it's on trois, just like I said. Ready?"

He nodded. "Okay. Un, deux, trois," she finished and they both managed to lift the heavy snowball.

It was heavier than she'd thought it would be, even with him helping her on the other side. "Walk backward, Castle. We can't stand here all day." The bottom part of the snowman was in back of Castle, about eight feet away, which hadn't looked like very much initially, but now that they were carrying a very large, heavy ball of cold snow, it seemed more like a mile.

"This is heavy!" Castle grunted.

"Tell me about it! Just make sure you hold up your half!"

After they'd trudged a few more feet, Kate couldn't resist having a little fun with him. "Oh, I hope I don't pull some muscles doing this. I just might need a rubdown later," she said very offhandedly. She was looking down at the snowball, but she sneaked a peek at his face to see the look of shock cross his features. But she wasn't prepared for what happened immediately after that. At her words, his thought processes abruptly shifted, and the images in his mind morphed from from pot-bellied, happy snowmen to ones of him rubbing massage oil into the naked back of Kate Beckett in candlelight. And this caused him to simply drop his half of the large snowball in utter surprise, and it promptly split in two.

Of course, this elicited a "What the-" yelp from Kate, but she never got a chance to finish her thought because him dropping his half of the snowball put her off balance, and made her fall forward over the snowball directly into Castle's chest. He managed to catch her elbows, but in his befuddled state-first over the rub-down images running rampant in his mind, and then with Beckett slamming against his chest-he couldn't stop himself from falling backwards. And of course, Beckett was on top of him.

"Why did you drop it?" she complained to him.

"Why did you have to talk about rubdowns?"

"I..." she didn't finish because she couldn't very well admit that she was baiting him to have some fun with him, to see how he would handle it. And she also didn't finish because she'd realized how close their faces were, and that she _was laying on top of him_.

Their eyes met again, searching. Neither moved. Finally, Castle broke the stalemate by uttering 'oh, hell' before he grabbed the back of her neck, pulled her head down and sealed his lips to hers.

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Hope you liked the latest installment. Another mishap and kiss is always good, right?


	5. Chapter 5

**_I'm not sure if I like this chapter or not. I think it may have some redeeming qualities, at least I hope it does. But I went around and around with it and just finally decided to go with it like this, and save my worry for writing new stuff rather than messing so much with this._**

**_Disclaimer: Still don't own anyone. If I did, Castle would have 50 episodes each year and it would be on twice each week (minimum). :-)_**

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Just like before, once her lips touched his, all conscious, rational thought stopped. She gave in to pure instinct; just giving herself to the sensations of the touch of his cool lips pressing to hers, and then the shock of his hot mouth as it opened to hers. And as soon as his mouth opened, hers did too...she just had to taste more than his lips, and she had to experience the heat of that talented mouth of his again. Even though he initiated it, she was compelled by some unnamed inner force to respond. And somewhere in her haze, somewhere in her kiss-fogged brain, she realized that Castle was indeed getting another french lesson, and it was exactly the type of lesson that he had been not-so-subtley hinting at.

She mildly registered him shifting slightly, and the pressure of his hand disappeared from the back of her neck. But then it reappeared mere seconds later in the form of his warm, bare fingers, which caressed the side of her face in front of her ear ever so lightly, before trailing them down to her neck. He couldn't go any farther down her neck because of her jacket, so the busy fingers settled for tucking her loose hair behind her ear, and then combed through her hair to massage the back of her head, much as she had done to him when his nose was bleeding.

All the while, her one focus was the kiss. She didn't expect it again, but hell, she was enjoying it! She had to admit that. Even though she didn't want to. The man certainly knew what to do with that mouth besides making the occasional smart aleck commentary, inappropriate elucidation, or random strange noise! The small, conscious part of her brain that was now firing back to life was telling her that she should break away, she should end this now. This was madness! She shouldn't be kissing Castle! But it was overruled by all other parts of her that said that it just felt too damn good.

Castle's focus equalled Kate's, although his mind wasn't nearly as hesitant about kissing her as she was him. But for this kiss, even though it wasn't planned and was the epitome of impromptu, he just _had_ to feel more of her. So when it was apparent that she wasn't pulling away, when some part of his brain registered that she was indeed kissing him back, he somehow managed to take one of his gloves off, so his fingers could touch at least some of her. He was enthralled by the soft skin of her face and neck, but he couldn't reach very much of his neck because of her winter clothing. So his hand went to her hair, loving the silky feeling of the strands in his fingers. And feeling her hair was just as good because it allowed him to keep his hand at the back of her head to make sure that she didn't escape from him anytime soon.

As he massaged the back of her head and urged her closer, a little breathy whimper escaped out of her. At the sound of it, his other arm reached across her back and pulled her closer to him, if that was possible. But even though she was more into the kiss, it seemed that she was also more aware of the kiss, because shortly after that, she broke away. Not far, but enough that their lips separated and their eyes opened and they just stared at each other. Finally, Castle broke the silence, in typical lighthearted Castle fashion, when he huskily said the first thing that came to his mind: "Now _my_ butt is getting cold," parroting her comment from their first kiss.

Her eyes moved down to his lips, and then back up to his eyes. "I really don't care, Castle. Deal with it," she told him, before sealing her mouth down on his for round two. Or three, depending on how you looked at it.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Alexis bounded down the stairs with her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. She saw her grandmother standing by the front door, peeking out the floor to ceiling window that bordered the door. "Hey Grams. Did the storm start back up yet?"

"In a manner of speaking," Martha replied, "although it's not weather related at all."

"Huh?"

"Well, darling, it would appear that your father and Detective Beckett are doing their best to melt the snow in the front yard with the collective body heat that they're generating."

Alexis thought about her grandmother's words for a moment, and then her eyes got big. "You mean they're..."-her voice got low as she finished her thought-"...making out or something? No! In the_ front yard_? In the _snow_?"

"It would appear so," Martha said, obviously amused by the situation.

"And you're _watching_? Grams! Ew!" But then she thought about it. "Let me see," she said and clandestinely hovered by her grandmother by the edge of the window. As soon as she caught sight of Kate kissing her dad, with his hand tangled in her hair, her jaw dropped and she said "Oh, holy merde!" Martha gave her comment a quick questioning look, but then turned back to the window. Alexis, however, realized that she was watching her father making out with someone, and as much as she liked the someone, the whole idea just kind of squicked her out. She quickly shrank back from the window again. "Ew! Why did I watch? Now that image is going to be burned in my brain. I _so_ did not need to see that. You should just _not_ see one of your parents making out with someone."

Martha wrapped her arm around Alexis' shoulders as she walked her away from the front door toward the kitchen. "Well, darling, I'd say she's a vast improvement over some of the women that your father has dated."

"She is. Way better. But I was just out there, with Kate, making the snowman. They weren't...when did they...?"

"Well, dear, I would hesitate to tell you this if you were any normal teenager, but you are your father's daughter, and you do know what he's like. You see, I witnessed, purely by accident, of course, what I assume was their little practice session in the back yard a short time ago."

"You mean _that_," she crooked her thumb toward the front door, "has been going on for a while? And he didn't say anything?"

"No, I don't think so. I would have been able to tell, believe me. An actress can tell when someone is acting, or covering up, and they weren't. So I would say these developments are relatively recent."

Then Alexis remembered her plans. "Oh, and I'm supposed to leave for Julia's house. But how can I go if they're..."

"Otherwise occupied, dear?"

"I mean, I just can't walk out there and go 'well, if you guys get done playing tonsil hockey anytime soon, I need a ride to Julia's', now can I? Oh, and there I go again!" she said, closing her eyes. "This is my _dad_ I'm talking about. One's father and the words 'tonsil hockey' should not be mentioned in the same sentence. That is just so many levels of wrong and uncomfortable."

"Don't worry, dear. It shouldn't be too much longer. The spirit may be very willing, but in your father's case, the body is weak. He's laying in the snow. I doubt he'll be able to last another five minutes."

"Probably not," Alexis agreed, knowing her father. "I kind of wish I could stay and see how this plays out. Dad isn't terribly subtle, you know. This could be fun to watch today."

"You know, darling, now that you've taught me how to text message on the phone, I can text you if anything interesting happens."

"Gram. You're not going to hover, are you?" Alexis asked her warily.

"Never, dear! I'll make a few strategically-timed appearances, of course, but I do feel myself coming down with something," she said as she gave a few dramatic coughs. "I'm sure I'll need to spend a great deal of time in my room, resting."

"Yes, you are looking a little peaked, now that you mention it."

And Alexis and Martha sat back and shared a smile.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Shortly after Kate went in for the second kiss, Rick happened to shift his body in the snow, which caused some of the cold stuff to go under the collar of his jacket to touch his upper back. He broke away from the kiss and yelped "Ahhhhh! That's nasty!"

She looked at him quizzically, with a more than a hint of annoyance while he made strange faces. She raised herself up quickly. "Castle, you're really starting to piss me off here." She was still breathing heavily from the kiss, and her lips were adorably red and slightly swollen.

"Wha...? Huh?" Then he realized what he said when he pulled away from her when the snow went down his back. "No! Cold snow down my back is nasty," he clarified, sitting up himself. He gave a full body shake to try to get rid of the snow, but only succeeded in enabling some more to fall down his back. "Ah...aaaayiiiii...that's cold!" He started swatting at the back of his neck in an attempt to remove any further snow. "God, Beckett, I wasn't talking about _you_! Why would I kiss you twice and be thinking about doing a hell of a lot more than that if I thought you were nasty?"

"I don't know, Castle! Why do you do _anything_? And I honestly can't recall that I have _ever_ in my life heard anyone use the word 'nasty' immediately after kissing me!" She glared at him

"Not even with morning breath?" he grinned at her.

"Not if he wanted to be around to have the chance to smell my breath for another morning. And before you go there, don't you dare even think that you're going to get a chance to find out anything about my morning breath."

"Beckett, if I ever had the chance to find out about your morning breath, I can guarantee you that I wouldn't waste time talking about it." And he rose one eyebrow at her with a sexy half-smile on his face.

She rolled her eyes at him before she stood up and stepped around the fallen snowball. Then she look around her, and into the distance away from the ocean. "Uh, Castle?"

"Did you notice that it's snowing again?"

Still sitting down in the snow, he looked around. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

"Look behind you."

He did as she instructed and was amazed to see a cloud of white descending on them. It was still some distance away, but they were both amazed to see what looked like the front of the second part of the storm descending on them, and it didn't look like a small front. "I, uh, guess it's a little too late for the snowman at this point. We should probably get inside."

She looked down at him, still sitting on the ground and a sly smile bloomed on her face. "Race you!" she told him and took off running for the garage. She let out a little laugh as she heard Castle's exasperated "Beckeeeeettttttt! No fair!" as he chased after her.

_**This chapter turned out to have more of the Martha and Alexis reaction in it than I'd planned, but I still thought it turned out okay. I don't write Alexis very often, and I don't know that I've ever written Martha, but it was fun. I hope I captured them well enough. I tried to think in the 'grand dame' attitude that Martha has on the show. And with Alexis, I thought that she'd be really interested and dying of curiosity to see her dad and Beckett together...until she actually saw them, and then she'd be like 'ew, I didn't need to see that.' Kind of like my kids act if they see my hubby and I kiss.**_

_**And yes, I'm evil, I know...letting them get distracted with the weather and not really talk about the kiss(es) at all! On the bright side, since they're about to be really snowed in now, they should have a lot of time to talk. ;-)**_

_**Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews for the last chapter! They really make my day! I keep checking email and I just feel like giggling when I see another review alert come through. Have I said lately how awesome you all are?**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Thanks to sportsner8482 for the idea for the start of this chapter!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: Don't own anyone.**_

* * *

Kate ran into the house through the mud room off the garage, briefly slowing only to yank off her boots so she didn't track snow all over the beautiful house. She tossed them onto a rug behind the door and ran into the kitchen. She stopped short when she found, unexpectedly, Martha and Alexis staring at her across the counter, Alexis with her mouth in a little 'o' as Kate barrelled into the kitchen. Martha, from years of practice, merely had a bored smile on her face as she greeted Kate with a typical "Good morning, dear."

"Uh, good morning," she stammered. And then, remembering Castle, she sprinted around the counter to crouch behind them, telling them only "He's coming...I need to hide. Shhhh." At least from the gleam in her eye and the small smile on her face, both of the ladies knew that Kate was having some fun with Rick. Of course, they were wholeheartedly in favor of that.

Martha, amused and totally used to this type of thing from her son, barely batted an eyelash when she acknowledged, "Of course, dear," as Kate took up her hiding position between Alexis and Martha's chairs.

Just then, they heard the utility room door bang open, followed by thundering footsteps running into the kitchen. Unfortunately, he didn't take off his boots as Kate did, and the snow on his boots made the smooth tiles very slippery. He was also surprised to see Alexis and Martha, but when he tried to stop, he just succeeded in slipping and sliding toward the other side of the counter where they sat. It was a haphazard display of precarious balance resulting in flailing limbs and no small amount of exclamations, but he saved himself from further injury or embarrassment when he grabbed onto the counter in front of him and managed to right his body and get his legs directly under him again.

"Goodness, Richard! Are you quite done?" Martha asked him. "Perhaps next time you might try wiping off your feet before you come in here so you don't look like you're trying out for the part of a circus clown."

He ignored her comment. "Where's Beckett? Where did she go?" he asked, out of breath, looking around. Underneath the other side of the counter, Kate was eager to hear how Alexis and Martha responded.

"Kate? I thought she was outside with you," Martha replied slyly.

"No, mother. She ran in here right before me, as you know very well. Left me sitting in the snow with my butt getting all wet. I probably look like some preschooler who didn't make it to the bathroom in time. I know that's how my pants feel." Kate listening from her hiding spot, had to stifle a laugh at that image. "Now where is she?"

"Dad, it doesn't matter where she is," Alexis chimed in, "because I need you to take me over to Julia's now. I was ready a while ago and I've already had to wait for you long enough while you were playing...with the snowman." She almost slipped up and said 'playing tonsil hockey' but caught herself just in time. In an effort to disguise the slip, she quickly got up from her chair, picked up her bag and coat and started to usher her father toward the garage again.

"Now?" he protested. "I need to change my pants. I'm all wet, THANKS TO BECKETT," he told her, distinctively raising his voice for the last few words like he knew that she was still within earshot somewhere.

"Yes, now Dad," Alexis insisted. "I told Julia I'd be there, and the second part of the storm is supposed to come in soon-"

"Didn't you look out the window? It's almost here. It's already starting to snow again."

She glanced out the window. "It _is_! Oh, my gosh, Dad! We have to get over there now so you can get back home right away! Come on, let's go!" And the little red-headed fireball grabbed her overnight bag as she pushed her father out the door.

Moments later, they heard an engine start. Martha looked down and told her "Well, dear, I think you're safe for a bit."

"Thanks, Martha," Kate said, standing up. "I, uh, suppose you're wondering what that was all about." Now that she was alone with Rick's mother, Kate was wondering how to explain what had just happened. Of course, she had no way of knowing that Martha knew _exactly_ what had just happened between Kate and her son. Twice.

"Oh, not really. I've been around Richard long enough to know that life can get rather eventful with him very quickly. I'm sure that whatever happened, it was good-natured fun. And it is quite amusing to see someone give it back to him as well as you seem to be able to. So, dear, I say go ahead and keep my boy on his toes." She raised her coffee cup in a little salute to Kate before taking a sip.

Kate smiled at the older woman. "So is there any more of that coffee?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Martha and Kate chatted for a few minutes before Martha excused herself to go back to her room. Kate stayed at the counter and picked up a magazine that she'd seen laying on a table. She couldn't really concentrate on it though; her mind kept coming back to the kisses she'd shared with Castle. It was disturbing that she'd enjoyed them as much as she had. Even more disturbing was that she'd done her share of initiating too! Where had that come from? This was Castle, after all. But oh, the man could kiss! She wondered how he'd play it when he came back. Ignore what had happened? Not likely, not him. Push the issue a bit? Yes, that was a more likely scenario.

Like it or not, she was stuck with him for the next few days. And actually, when she really _did_ think about it, she kind of _did_ like the idea of being stuck with him. She never thought she'd cross that line with him, of engaging in something more...romantic...than their constant innuendo and bantering, but today she had crossed that line. A few times. And it wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought it would be, not nearly. It gave her some food for thought. These new developments might prove to be a nice little diversion that she could remember fondly when she got back to the real world in a couple of days. She'd just have to see how he acted when he came back.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rick drove through the swirling snow back to his house. Alexis was happily dropped off at her friend's house, and he left her amidst the squeals of several teenage girls after she cryptically told him, "Have a really _nice_ day, Dad," and fled with a quick kiss to his cheek. He didn't know if he'd ever fully understand his daughter.

His thoughts drifted to the very unexpected but very enjoyable activities with Kate in the yard earlier. Why did he have to go and get snow down his back anyway? If he hadn't, they might very well still be kissing even now. Of course, then his butt would be even more wet than it was right now.

After parking the car in the garage, he walked into the house and after taking off his coat and boots, went directly to the utility room off the mud room, which housed the washer and dryer. He stripped out of his jeans and threw them in the dryer to dry them for a bit. Then, just dressed in his sweashirt, socks and boxers, wandered into the kitchen to get a drink. As he rounded the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Beckett was sitting at the counter, reading a magazine. And of course, she chose that moment to look up from her magazine and see him in his state of undress.

Her eyes registered a modicum of surprise, but he only saw that because he was so used to studying her facial expressions, both the outward ones and the nuances. But then she merely raised an eyebrow at him and said "Well, Castle, I knew you had quite the reputation, but I never figured you for someone to parade around in front of guests in his underwear. Don't be expecting me to reciprocate."

"Well, you know, when in Rome..."

"Look around Castle. See the Pope? See any ruins? Didn't think so. This ain't Rome, and I'll be keeping my clothes on, thanks."

"Darn!" he replied, snapping his fingers in an 'aw, shucks' type of move. "Let me know if you reconsider. I could make it worth your while, you know."

She shot him a withering glance, but didn't say anything. Because after kissing him, she wasn't so sure that he wasn't speaking the truth. And that was something that was just a little bit uncomfortable to think about right now. Because she had the feeling that she would be anything _but_ uncomfortable if they were both wearing just their underwear.

After a pointed look-complete with a cocky grin-he turned to the refrigerator. "Want something to drink?"

"Water?"

He grabbed two bottles and came around the counter to sit next to her. She took the bottle he offered and asked, "So, why are you walking around in your boxers, anyway? Is it just a weird Castle-ism...walking around your vacation house in your underwear? You really should have warned me if that's the case, you know."

"I mentioned it earlier when you were in hiding...my pants were all wet from me laying in the snow." He paused so she could hear the unspoken words: 'with you.' "I took them off and put them in the dryer for a bit. Anyway, I'm sure you heard all about my wet butt problem from your spot where you were hiding behind the counter." She looked briefly surprised that he'd known exactly where she was. "Come on, Beckett, give me some credit." He smiled a cocky smile at her, as if to say 'Busted!'

She tried to change the subject. "Did Alexis-" She stopped suddenly and quickly glanced down to his lack of clothing. Then she looked up at the ceiling, shook her head and said "Hold that thought," as she got up and left the room. She came back seconds later carrying one of the fleece blankets from the night before, and threw it onto his lap. "Sorry, Castle, but after working with you for over two years, I just _cannot_ have a rational conversation with you while you're sitting there in your underwear."

"I've always had underwear on when we've talked before." Well, most of the time, he thought silently.

"Along with other clothes."

"I have other clothes on now too."

"Not...there."

He grinned at her and leaned forward toward her, but kept the blanket on his lap. "So do you like what you see? Afraid you won't be able to control yourself?" he teased.

"_I'm_ not the one who's had a problem controlling himself lately."

"Takes two to tango, Beckett," he said with his own version of the single-raised-eyebrow-glare, reminding her that she was very much a part of the kisses that they had shared.

She shrugged her shoulders and leaned slightly closer to him. "Sometimes I like to do a little dancing if the mood strikes me."

The corners of his mouth turned up in a slight smile. "Well, Detective, you just let me know if you ever find you need a dance partner."

She leaned back slightly and tipped her head to the side, regarding him. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Castle." And she leaned her head back and took a swig of her water. He sat back in his chair, watching her, somewhat amazed that she hadn't flayed him with her words. Although it was all innuendo, he got the distinct impression that she was not necessarily opposed to the idea of possibly recreating an indoor version of what had happened outside earlier.

"Anyway," she continued, "I was asking about Alexis. Were her friends happy to see her?"

"I should have remembered to wear earplugs. I'd forgotten about the decibel level of the squeals of several teenage girls when they're excited."

"Richard," they both heard as they turne to the side and saw Martha saunter into the kitchen, wearing a long silk robe.

"Yes, mother?"

"I just wanted to get a bottle of water. I think I'll be staying in my room, so don't plan anything around me. I'm not feeling very well."

"Oh, Martha, is there anything I can do for you? Would you like me to get you some medicine or anything?" Kate asked her, concerned.

"No," she said, and then let out a little cough. "That's very sweet of you, though, dear. I'll just try to stay away from you both...the last thing I want is for you to get sick too." She continued on and got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

When she was almost gone, Kate yelled after her, "Well let you know when we make some lunch. We can bring something to your room. You should really eat something to keep up your strength."

"That's lovely of you, Kate. But don't go to any trouble for me."

"It's no trouble at all. You get some rest and I'm sure you'll feel better soon."

"See you later, mother," Rick told her. And she vanished in a flounce of silk.

They sat in silence after Martha left, both having turned back to face the counter. Kate tried to concentrate again on her magazine, and then Rick turned his head slightly toward Kate after a few minutes. "Looks like it's just you and me now," he noted.

She turned her head halfway to him, "Yes, it would appear that way. You aren't planning to outrageously annoy me now, are you?"

"No more than I ever do," he promised.

"Great," she told him, rolling her eyes.

She went back to looking at the magazine, but then moments later, she let out a little yelp as her chair was quickly swiveled around so it was facing away from the counter. She was even more surprised when Castle put his hands on the armrests of the chair, effectively trapping her with his body. He was leaning close enough so that she could feel his breath on her face, and she could see the corners of his mouth turn up in a challenging grin as he asked her "So since it's just you and me now, got any ideas for passing the time? Because I do."

She looked at him, close enough to see the flecks of different colors in the blue of his eyes. And she had her answer to her question from earlier. He was pushing the issue. He was _definitely _pushing the issue.

Now maybe it was time for Rick Castle to experience a little push back.

_**

* * *

**_

Suspense! Guess I have to deal out a little of my own since I'm waiting not so patiently for Setup. I used to enjoy weekends and dread Mondays, now it's just the opposite when I'm waiting for a new episode of Castle.

_**What's really funny is that most of the snow that we had during our blizzard (that we had when I started writing this fic) is almost all gone due to some really high temps lately! At least the story lives on.**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I always very much appreciate your reviews, so please let me know what you think!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been having some of those writing issues lately...I know where I want to go, but can't seem to get the words on the page.**_

_**Well, here's the latest installment. Enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: no, don't own any of these wonderful characters. Darn.**_

* * *

Castle's arms were on either side of Kate as she sat, his hands planted on the arms of the chair, trapping her. She stared up at him. He was pushing, but then again, she knew he'd push. If he had an idea in his head he was like a dog with a bone; he wasn't going to let go of it. And ever since he'd went with his first inclination in the back yard and kissed her, the rest was history.

_She_ was now the idea in his head, she knew. And he kept bringing it up, in the subtle, yet highly overt way that only he could muster. She knew where his thoughts were, and she knew where hers had gone. She'd had these few uncomfortable displays of familiarity with him since she'd been here, but any semblance of discomfort went down the drain when she'd kissed _him_. She couldn't claim that defense to herself any more. Maybe it was uncomfortable at first, but put in the situation, she found that she liked it. She liked being around him. She liked _kissing_ him. Though somewhat hard to admit, her perception of him, her view of him had shifted a little, and she could see-and feel-the possibility of them as more than friends, more than partners. So...it was time to take some of the control back on this front. She could up the ante on the innuendo a little bit, enjoy a few more of those amazing kisses of his, and enjoy driving him a little bit crazy, like he frequently did to her. Starting now.

In a practiced move, one that she knew would put him a bit on edge, she bit her bottom lip and placed one finger on his jaw, tracing it down his neck to the collar of his sweatshirt. "I just _bet_ you have some good ideas, or at least you think you do. Would you like me to try to guess what some of them are?"

She'd leaned just a little bit closer to him as she spoke, but he was already pretty close as it was, so she was just a fraction of an inch away from his face when she spoke. The close proximity was alluring enough to him, but when he registered her words and felt the light touch of her finger burning a path down his neck, the smile fell off of his face and he gave a small gulp. "Sure..." he responded in an uncertain voice.

She let a very slight little teasing smile adorn her face. Her voice was low as she continued, almost a whisper, and as a result, her words came out softly and seductively. "Well, judging by your proximity to me right now, I think you're trying to make me uncomfortable. You're trying to get in my personal space, even more than you usually do. And do you know what?"

"What?" he squeaked with a stunned semblance of a voice.

"It's. not. working. Do I _look_ uncomfortable to you?"

"N...no. You look really...comfortable," he stammered.

"Glad you think so, because I'm actually quite...comfortable...right now." She precisely enunciated each syllable, still so close to his face that he could feel the vibration from her words. "So as to the rest of your plans, I would guess that you're planning some ways to try to continue to get in my personal space a lot today. Kind of like you tried to do just now. Am I correct?"

"Uh..." he was still shocked by her bluntness, by her sudden willingness to address, though not in a totally direct form, what had happened between them within the last twelve hours or so.

"Nothing to say, Castle? No witty comebacks?" she asked, and then she leaned forward just enough to almost touch her lips to his, but not quite. Then she smiled and ducked her head away as she easily moved his arm and raised herself out of the chair, stepping around him.

"Guess not," she responded in answer to her own question. "I'm going up to my room for a bit. See you later."

Her attempt at leaving seemed to snap him out of his stupor. "Cookies!" he shouted at her retreating back.

She stopped and turned around slowly. "Good to see you can talk again. I think. But what about cookies?"

"My plans. For us. For today. We can make cookies."

She raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Chocolate chip?"

He smiled back at her, some of his cockiness returning because he knew she'd be pleased with his answer. "Milk chocolate chips. And I got extra chocolate chips." Baking cookies was always a good activity for when you were stuck inside, and he knew that lots of chocolate would be a big hit when he was stuck inside with three women who all professed to love chocolate. Even though one of them was now elsewhere and the other was not feeling well.

"Well, in that case, I'll be down in a few minutes so we can get started. Warm chocolate chip cookies, double chocolate chips, fresh out of the oven, during a snowstorm...that's an offer I can't refuse." And she trotted off toward the stairs.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Really, Castle, are there any baking supplies left in the city of New York or are they all sitting on your counter?" Kate said as she came back into the kitchen and stopped short, gaping at the amount of flour, sugar, chocolate chips and random other ingredients that were now littering the counters of his kitchen.

"I wanted to make sure we didn't run out."

"If we use all of this, I don't think we'll run out of cookies for the next two years, and that's with supplying Ryan and Esposito too." She pushed up her sleeves and started to wash her hands. "Okay, bowls?"

Rick silently pointed to a couple of large stoneware mixing bowls. "Good," she told him. "Let's get to work."

'Working' turned out to be a very loose term. Where Kate was one to read the recipe and try for reasonably accurate measurements, Rick was the opposite. She measured the brown sugar and started mixing it with the butter, and he declared that he liked brown sugar and it needed more, so he simply picked up the bag and dumped more into the bowl. A _lot_ more. Kate figured it was easily twice the amount she'd already put in. She turned around to glare at him, and he just shrugged and said "It'll be really good...just watch!"

"Castle, you can estimate a little bit, but you can't throw in _that_ much extra of something without it totally messing things up. Get me another stick of butter. If we want to make this work now, we have to increase everything else."

So far, surprisingly, he'd been pretty good about not invading her personal space. It was almost as if, since their discussion from earlier, she had an invisible force field around her that prevented him from touching her or even getting within a foot of her. However, after they added more ingredients and she was attempting to mix it all up, the force field must have been turned off because she soon felt him directly behind her. He trapped her against the counter with his body, and reached around her to hold the bowl with one hand and covered her other hand that held the mixing spoon.

When she felt his chest pressing against her back and his head right side of hers, almost resting on her right shoulder, she froze from the surprise. This shift in their normal interaction was still so new that each time he initiated some more familiar contact, it caused her mind to shout a vehement '_what the hell is he doing?_' When she stopped stirring the cookie dough, he kept up the motions. And then, after a few revolutions of the spoon, he leaned his head down slightly and trailed a few soft kisses down her jawline to her neck. If she hadn't been frozen already, she would have certainly frozen when she felt his lips on her neck.

And as wonderful as it felt, she couldn't let him know that. Not quite yet. But she had to do something to stop him before she melted into a pile of goo as mushy as the cookie dough. So while his lips were still nuzzled into her neck, she removed her left hand from where it was holding the bowl and dipped it into the bowl, grabbing a medium-sized handful of the still gooey dough. She said "Rick?" softly, which, given the fact that she hardly _ever_ used his first name, was enough to have him looking up in surprise. And when she felt his lips leave her neck, she took the glob of dough and smeared it down his face.

He jumped back just a bit in surprise and she turned more to face him, smiling as she gauged his reaction, but then he licked some of the dough that was side of his mouth. "Ummm...tasty. I do like brown sugar."

She rolled her eyes at him after his remark, so she didn't see the incoming glob of dough that he'd picked up to smear on her face until it was too late. Direct hit to her nose and down her right cheek. "Castle!" she shrieked, as she tried to wipe it off.

"You started it!"

"You were...doing _that_ to my neck!" The comment was out of her mouth before she could stop it, and she inwardly cringed at how naive and teenager-ish she sounded. Well, at least she didn't let on how nice it had felt.

"You mean...kissing it? Kate, Kate, Kate...I thought by now you would know what 'that' was." He paused and then waggled his eyebrows at her while, through a cocky grin, asked her "Wanna try it again?"

"I thought we were making cookies." Her argument sounded kind of lame but she couldn't think of anything else to say right then.

"Nobody said that we couldn't have a little fun during the process."

She thought about that briefly, and about her earlier resolve to push back at him. Two could play at this game, she thought. "You wanna have some fun, Rick?" she inquired of him, edging a little closer.

"With you? Of course."

"Good." And she picked up more of the dough and smeared it on his face. He retaliated with a little bit of dough to her face. And so it began...cookie-making with a decidedly Castle flair, which turned out to not really be cookie-making at all since the dough that had been just blended was now no longer in the bowl, but was in one of several places: on Kate, on Rick, on the floor or stuck to any one of a number of kitchen appliances. When the dough was gone, Rick got resourceful-and messy-by digging his hand into one of the bags of flour and dropping some on Kate's head. After she brushed as much off as she could, while Castle stood there and chuckled, Kate grabbed the bottle of vanilla secretly in one hand while she sidled up to Rick provocatively. Then she put her arms around his neck and leaned toward his face...only to distract him while she poured vanilla down his back.

He immediately cringed and yelped because of the feeling of the liquid running down his back. "Ooooo, that was dirty, Beckett!"

"Says the person who just put flour on my _head_!" She glared at him. "Do you realize how sticky my hair is going to be when I try to wash that out?"

"I'd be willing to take a shower with you and help you out," he told her cheekily.

She rolled her eyes at him, but then got an idea and jumped toward the open bag of flour. "I think _you_ need some flour now, to go with the vanilla..." She lunged toward him again as he tried to turn around and run, but she had the advantage and grabbed his shirt as he ran away, shoving the handful of flour down his back at the same time, even as he tried to turn back to her to pin her arms. Then, surprising both of them, he lost his balance, a combination of Kate pulling on his shirt and his foot stepping on a residual glob of cookie dough that was on the floor. Kate couldn't counteract his momentum as he fell back toward her and she lost her balance too. They were both able to catch themselves enough so they didn't slam into the hard tile floor, but they still fell, with Rick landing partially on top of Kate.

When he realized his position, he gave her a smug grin. "We seem to be finding ourselves in this position a lot this morning."

She stared up at him, feeling the sense of deja vu that he was talking about. "Yes, we do. Why does it always seem to involve you losing your balance and tackling me?"

"Hey, the first time _you_ tackled _me_, if I recall right."

"Oh, shut up, Castle."

"Shut up and kiss you?" he asked, but then didn't wait for a reply before he lowered his face to hers and claimed her lips.

Once their lips touched, she didn't need much encouragement to continue. The memory of the other kisses surged to the forefront in her mind, eliminating any residual inclination that she had to pull away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer as she fully participated in the kiss, lips teasing lips, tongues teasing tongues.

Finally, their kisses slowed and they pulled slightly away from each other. She took a deep breath and stared into his eyes, then asked him softly, "Is this part of your plan to invade my personal space?"

He took his own deep breath before smiling at her. "I can't take credit for planning this actual situation, but I can say that it did work out to be a nice end result."

"You should know," she paused, aware that she was about to make a big admission, "that while you are definitely invading my personal space, you're not succeeding in making me feel uncomfortable. Not at all. Well, unless you count the fact that I'm laying on a hard tile floor with a big oaf on top of me. One that smells really girly from the vanilla." She knew that admitting that she was getting used to kissing him was big for her, but she was quickly losing willpower to resist when she knew what it felt like to _not_ resist him. So she tempered her big admission with a joke, much like Rick himself did often enough.

"I'll have to try a little harder then, huh? And if I smell girly, I'll remind you that that's all your fault." He raised himself up so he was sitting and offered her a hand so she could sit up too. After she was sitting up, he didn't release her hand. Nor did she pull it away. They just sat and looked at each other, both of them feeling some things that needed to be voiced, but neither knowing quite how to go about it. Finally, Rick opened his mouth and broke the silence, starting out with "Kate, I know-"

"Oh, my goodness! What in the world happened in here?"

Both of the people still sitting on the floor whipped their heads toward the entryway to the kitchen, to see Martha standing there, gaping in some level of horror and suprise at the state of the kitchen. She looked at the brown goo stuck to the outside of the double oven in the wall (along with various other things), the flour littering many of the horizontal surfaces, and her gaze finally settled on the two people sitting on the floor, holding hands, amidst more brown goo smeared on the tile. She could see a brown streak down her son's back, and Kate's hair...

"Kate, dear, I have to ask...are you starting to go prematurely gray or are my eyes finally going bad?"

She gave a little laugh, in the midst of her horror over Martha finding them this way. But thank goodness she didn't come in a few minutes earlier when they were kissing! "Neither, Martha. I just, uh, ended up with some flour in my hair," she told the older woman, giving a pointed glance at Castle.

"Well then...I see," she told them, and it was clear that she didn't understand at all. And then because she was supposed to be sick, Martha gave a little cough, just for effect.

"We were making cookies, mother."

"I'm sure you were, dear," she said somewhat dismissively, like she didn't believe him in the least. "Anyway, I was coming to get another bottle of water. Could you hand me one so I don't have to venture in...there."

Kate jumped up and fulfilled her request, and Martha was on her way back to her room quickly, after a lingering puzzled look at the both of them.

"Well, _that_ was embarrassing," Kate observed.

"Don't mind her. But she was right. What do you say we clean this up and try to _really_ make cookies this time."

"Fine by me. I'm not the one who was distracting before anyway. Do you think you can behave yourself?"

"No guarantees," he said with another cocky smile.

And Kate was surprised that his last little proclamation didn't make her uncomfortable at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.

And back in her room, Martha was busy punching buttons on her phone, preparing a message. Alexis just _had_ to hear about what she'd just seen!

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Thoughts? Hope you enjoyed the latest installment. And just a hint...the weather will soon get a lot worse!


	8. Chapter 8

_**Now my little (as originally planned) one-shot is up to chaper 8. I'm just about to give up the idea that I am capable of writing anything that is actually short.**_

_**One thing to note: somewhere in the last few chapters, try to just assume that Castle got his pants out of the dryer, so he wasn't sitting around on the floor in his boxers when Martha came down and talked to them after the cookie dough fight. I meant to put that in there somewhere, but I just kind of forgot.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. It's a good thing because I could never write them as well as Marlowe and company anyway. But it's still fun to borrow them. :)**_

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The kitchen had been cleaned up, fresh cookie dough had been made, and chocolate chip cookies were baking in the oven. They made some regular cookies but also used some of the dough to make a large pan cookie. As soon as the pan went into the oven, Kate scurried upstairs to shower the flour out of her hair. Rick felt obliged (with a grin) to offer to help, since he said he felt just awful about it (yeah, right), but she nonetheless declined his (generous) offer.

When she came back down just a short time later, she now had on some form-fitting yoga pants and a faded hoodie with 'NYPD' emblazoned on the front. Her hair was damp but not fully wet, looking as if she'd taken the time to dry it a bit. She walked into the kitchen, where Castle was sitting on the counter doing something with his iPhone. She headed straight for him and only stopped when she was standing right in front of him. She waited patiently until he looked up, a smile blooming on his face when he saw her. And she responded by promptly whacking him on his arm and then walking over to the cooling cookies and snatching one from the rack.

"Hey! What was that for?" Rick asked, rubbing his arm where she had whacked it.

"Do you know that I had to shampoo my hair three-count 'em...THREE- times to get the flour out? The water hit it and the stuff turned to paste. It was gross, Castle. Gross. And it's _your_ fault."

He slid off the counter and came over to stand next to her. "Sorry. But if you recall, I _did_ offer my services in the shower. You declined. So you have nobody but yourself to blame."

She rolled her eyes at him and took a bite of her cookie. As she tasted it, she closed her eyes and let out a soft moan. "Ummmm...oh, wow...are these good or are these good?" When she opened her eyes, she eyed the cookie in her hand. "But really, Castle, is this thing solid chocolate? You have so many chocolate chips in here that I'm not really sure if there's any cookie part at all."

"After tasting it, are you complaining?"

"Well...no, but I have to wonder how this thing even stays together when there's hardly any dough stuff in the middle." She took another bite, this time more from the middle of the cookie, where the chocolate chips were still warm and gooey. As she bit into the cookie, the chocolate oozed out and dripped onto her chin in a couple of different places. She felt one of the globs and reached up to wipe it off, but missed the other. He motioned to her that she had chocolate on her chin by pointing to his own chin, but she still missed finding it.

Finally, he reached over to her and wiped the gooey chocolate from her chin with his index finger. He hadn't say a word, so she had a brief moment where she wondered what he was doing, but then he reached out and touched her face. And the touch of his finger on her face jolted her, so that when his finger left her face with the offending chocolate glob, she grabbed his hand before he could move it away. She glanced at his finger, but then her eyes locked with his and on impulse, she brought his finger to her mouth. She gently touched her tongue to the chocolate, and then wrapped her lips around his finger as she slowly drew his finger out of her mouth, her eyes never leaving his. She could see the pupils of his eyes contract as their gazes held. After her mouth was free, she murmured "Mmmm...thanks." The tips of her fingers tickled his palm right before she released his hand, and then she walked over to the refrigerator to get a can of soda.

She rummaged around in the refrigerator, not really seeing the contents, as she thought about what she'd just done. She hadn't planned it, but if she wanted to keep him off-balance, she figured that from the look in his eyes, she'd just gotten an A+.

As she closed the refrigerator, she saw him turn slowly toward her. "Beckett." His voice sounded odd, different than the normal, joking Castle. "You're playing with fire."

She walked up close to him, looking around the kitchen from one side to the other. "Hmm...I don't see any fire. But Castle, there's a blizzard outside. Don't you think a fire sounds nice right now?" she asked innocently, knowing full well what his meaning was but not acknowledging it with her words.

He met her innocent gaze for several long moments, finally breaking the silence when he said "We haven't had lunch yet. Should we make some sandwiches and sit in front of that fire that you mentioned?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They prepared a couple of trays, one with all of the sandwich fixings, some fruit and a couple of plates, and the other one with a light lunch for Martha. Kate had remembered that Martha was holed up in her room, and she insisted on taking her a tray. After finding out what she liked from her son, she made her a small sandwich with a bowl of fruit and a cup of hot water for some tea. She took the tray upstairs and knocked on the door that Castle had directed her to.

Martha wasn't expecting the knock, but when she heard it, she quickly crawled into bed and hid her phone under the covers. Although it really went against her grain, she mussed her hair a bit and slapped her cheeks to make them look flushed. If she was going to 'be' sick, she had to look a bit sick. When she was ready, she uttered what she hoped was a pitiful "Come in."

Kate opened the door, holding the tray. Martha attempted a wan smile and then made sure to cough for good measure. "Oh, look at you, bringing me food. Really, dear, you didn't have to do that."

"It's no problem, Martha. We just wanted you to have a little something to eat. You have to keep up your strength. The sandwich is small, but there's a lot of fruit. I know I like to eat fresh fruit when I'm not feeling well. And there's some tea for your throat also."

"Oh, Kate, you're so sweet. I'll do my best to finish. Thank you, dear. But you run along now-I certainly don't want you to get whatever I have, as much as I appreciate the visit."

"Are you sure you're okay, Martha? Is there anything else you'd like?"

"No, darling, I'm fine. I'll just nibble on your wonderful lunch that you brought me and rest. But oh, there is one thing..." she trailed off.

"What?"

"If it's not too much trouble, can you try to keep Richard occupied for me? If he gets bored, he'll be liable to come up here and start rambling about something, and while he can be highly entertaining, I just don't think that I'm up to that in my current state." She finished with a little cough to punctuate her request.

Kate certainly knew how Castle could be when he was bored. And even though he was her son, she knew that she couldn't subject Martha to him when she was sick. "Not a problem, Martha. I'll find something to keep him occupied. Too bad he didn't bring his laser tag gear. I could probably whip his butt," she told the older woman, smiling.

"Oh, don't worry about that. He has a spare set that he keeps here so he doesn't have to transport it back and forth. It's in the closet in his study. So you just go right ahead and whip my boy's butt." Martha smiled inside, thinking that 'her boy' would probably love to have his butt whipped by the lovely detective.

"Really? Well, I'll just keep that in the back of my mind then. I'll leave now, but you just let us know if you need anything, all right?"

"Thank you, dear," Martha told her, coughing once more for effect before Kate smiled at her as she left and shut the door again. Martha sat back up in bed and carried the tray over to the chair in the corner of the room, doing a little twirl as she moved in a very un-sick fashion. Once again, she was brilliant; asking Kate to keep Richard 'occupied' so he didn't bother her. Ha! Based on what she saw earlier, she was hoping that they could find a few ways to occupy themselves, and not one of those few had anything to do with laser tag.

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Kate walked back downstairs to find Rick sitting on the floor, in front of the fireplace. He'd pulled the coffee table over, and it appeared that they were going to use it as a makeshift dining table. He saw her walk up, and a crooked smile lit his face. She glanced out the big window, amazed at the blowing snow that made it hard to see much of anything outside. As she sat down on the other side of the table from him, she remarked "I'm really glad I'm in here and not out there."

"I'm glad you're in here too. Because if you were out there, then I'd feel obliged to be a good host and be with you, and believe me, I do _not_ want to even think about going out in that." He gestured toward the table. "I considered opening a bottle of wine, but it's still relatively early in the day. We can save it for tonight. So for now...voila! Hot chocolate!"

"Awww...Castle, I'm so impressed! You even have marshmallows in the hot chocolate. _And_ you spoke more french."

"You doubted me? Detective, I'm appalled that you would think I'd give you hot chocolate with no marshmallows." He grinned as he popped a piece of pineapple into his mouth. "And voila is such a crossover word that it can't even be considered french anymore. So I'm not giving up on the hope of having more french lesons with you." He met her gaze just long enough to make his meaning crystal clear. Then he changed tactics. "So how is the grande dame?" He began to make his sandwich by piling meat on one of the sandwich rolls.

She surveyed the sandwich fixings, then took her own roll and began piling things on it. "She doesn't seem too bad yet, but she does seem a bit weak and not as...ebullient as she normally is."

Rick's eyes snapped up to regard her. Raising his eyebrows, he said "Ebullient?"

She sighed and gave him a glare. "You're not the only one who has a vocabulary, Castle."

"Apparently not." He smiled. "And believe me, I like it. Sometimes a word pops out when I'm talking with someone and do you know how frustrating it is when I get this blank look because the person has absolutely no idea that the word is even part of the english language, much less what it means?"

"Is it as frustrating as people who can't use apostrophes correctly?" she asked before she took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"No, apostrophe misuse is still the biggest crime in the english language. We should really pass a new law against the misuse of apostrophes and then you can arrest people if they break it." He took a bite of his sandwich.

"Castle, while I may agree with you, has it escaped you that I'm a _homicide_ cop?"

"But they're murdering the english language!" he argued with some comical form of author outrage.

She rolled her eyes. "Tell you what. You write that into one of your books. Have an English teacher get murdered and Nikki finds out that it's all about apostrophes. And that would be plural, therefore no apostrophe in the word 'apostrophes'."

Rick just stopped chewing after she finished her remark and looked at her. "God, that is just so _hot._ Not only the fact that you know what's correct, but that you can explain it."

She shook her head at him in lieu of an eyeroll. Leave it to an author to get turned on by correct grammar. But even though it was silly, or maybe just because it was silly, she still found that a smile sneaked out before she took a bite of her sandwich.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After they cleaned up the lunch tray, Rick went to his mother's room to get her tray. He knocked, but then quietly opened the door when he didn't hear an answer. She had her satin sleep mask over her eyes and was taking a nap. He quietly stole over to the table and picked up the tray. She'd eaten mostly everything, so that was good. He exited the room and made his way down to the kitchen, where he found Kate cutting into the pan cookies.

"Couldn't wait?" he asked as he set the tray down.

"No. And you know that if I didn't cut into them, you would have soon enough anyway."

He eyed up the cookies as she worked the knife through the sweet treat. "Give me a big one," he requested.

She stopped cutting and looked up at him, raising one eyebrow as a thought popped into her brain. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation, looking at the pan of chocolatey cookies.

"Well, okay," she agreed, casually shrugging her shoulders. "You asked for it." And before he could blink again, she'd taken her hand and had run it around the back of his head, twining her fingers in his hair as she pulled his face down to hers. She crashed her lips against his, her open mouth feeling his extremely surprised, slack lips. He stood there, stunned and paralyzed, as Kate worked her mouth over his. After about two seconds, though, he finally remembered what to do when a woman kissed you like _that_. He opened his own mouth to feel the sweet taste of hers, as his arms went around her back and he pushed her against the counter. Her other arm dropped the knife she'd been using to cut the cookies, and she vaguely heard it clatter on the counter as she brought that arm up around his shoulders. His hands were moving up and down her back as his mouth plundered hers. She let out a little moan from deep in her throat, because she'd been right...the man definitely knew his way around a kiss, even when surprised. The need for air, coupled with a sudden, intense urge to have him lift her up on the counter so she could wrap her legs around him, finally made her pull back enough to break the kiss, stunned at the quick intensity that had developed. Both breathing heavily, their eyes, dark with the sudden passion of the kiss, just stared at each other. He was the first to speak, and when he did, his voice held a tone of wonder as he words spilled out of him.

"I was only asking for a cookie."

Although her breathing was still labored, she gave him a teasing almost-smile as she asked, "Are you complaining, Castle?"

"No!" The response sounded quick and sure, but somewhat desperate in that he was trying to refute that she might think of his comment as a complaint. "I just...I didn't...that was...wow. Just, um, wow."

Satisfied at his response, she casually turned back around and retrieved the knife that she'd carelessly dropped earlier. She finished cutting a couple of cookie pieces and carefully lifted them out of the pan. Turning around, she handed him one. "Is that big enough for you?"

He took a bite of the cookie. After he swallowed, he asked her, "The cookie?" by way of confirming what they were talking about.

But instead of answering, she just gave him a smug smile before walking away with her own cookie. As she left the kitchen, she called over her shoulder. "Castle? I'm still not uncomfortable. I'm quite comfortable, as a matter of fact."

And he just stood there, watching the her retreating back, remembering how it felt to run his hands over that back. Yes, he thought, she was _very_ comfortable. And with a shake of his head to clear his kiss-befuddled brain, his feet started working again as they followed her out of the kitchen.

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Sorry for the grammar lesson earlier, but it just kind of flowed as I was writing it. I think maybe I was helping my 11 year old a little too much with his language arts homework this past week. Poor kid was stressing out about writing a 300 word essay. Three hundred words? I told him that it's incredibly easy to write 300 words. He believed me a little more after he was done. But he did pay me a compliment...he told me about three times that I'd make a really good language arts teacher (and that was mainly for telling him that he needed at least one space after every period)...LOL.

_**Anyone else want chocolate chip pan cookies (with extra chocolate chips) now?**_

_**So let me know what you like and want more of...Martha? Banter? Mishaps? Romance? Playfulness?**_

_**Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**First of all, it's so nice to see that I have such grammar geeks reading my story! I absolutely love it! And I'm glad you didn't mind the grammar lesson...in fact, most of you seemed to love it, and I'm glad! Apostrophe misuse bugs the heck out of me. If you ever see an apostrophe misused in one of my stories, please let me know; I probably just mistyped it and didn't catch it on a proof.**_

_**Thanks to all of you for the continuing wonderful reviews! As always, they are much appreciated!**_

_**LinMo-couldn't reply to directly, but a pan cookie is just the normal chocolate chip cookie dough mushed into a cake pan instead of dropped in balls on a cookie sheet. Bake it until it's not mushy or gooey. They're thicker and somehow, pan cookies are just really, really good! Warm pan cookie with ice cream and hot fudge on top...yum!**_

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He walked into the living room to find...no Beckett. Where could she have gone? He wasn't that far behind her. As he looked around, he noticed the door to his study was open across the room. Smiling, he took another bite of the cookie as he made his way toward the open doorway.

Sure enough, there she was. He leaned against the doorway, just silently watching Kate as she scanned the titles of the books on the shelves. As she moved around the room, she finally came up against the ladder in the corner. She turned around and looked right at him, as if she knew he was there all the time, and told him, "I can't believe you have a rolling ladder in your library."

"How did you know I was here?" he asked, not addressing the ladder comment quite yet. "I was really quiet."

"Castle, when will you learn?" she asked him, almost rhetorically. She walked over to him until she was standing right in front of him. She brought her hand up to his cheek, telling him "I'm a de-tec-tive," as she patted his cheek with each of the carefully enunciated syllables of the last word. Then she lowered her hand and walked over and sat down casually on the soft leather couch in the sunken seating area and finished, "Besides, you've been following me for years. I figured there was no way you would NOT follow me know, especially after your 'big one' in the kitchen a few minutes ago." The small grin that adorned her face after the words left her mouth definitely had a teasing quality to it.

He pushed off the doorway and sauntered over to the couch to join her. Taking some new liberties that he wouldn't have taken a few days ago, he sat down right next to her, leaving no room between their legs, although he didn't put his arm around her. But he did lean toward her as he said "That big one you gave me was really delicious. Feel free to cook for me anytime."

The double-entendres-both of them-were not lost on her. "Are you talking about the cookie or the lip lock?" His eyes momentarily widened when she actually voiced-somewhat-what had happened between them, without innuendo or plays on words, like they had been doing to that point.

"Either. Both. Take your pick," he told her cautiously, not entirely sure how open or blunt he should be. Innuendo they did very well together. But honesty...blunt talk about _feelings_...that was something they still struggled with.

She stared straight ahead, and he could see a side view of a thoughtful look when he turned his head to look at her. "Okay," she told him, slapping his knee as she used it to prop herself off the couch into a standing position. Then she surprised him by holding out her hand to him. "Come on, Castle."

He placed her hand in his and she mimed giving him a little heave-ho off the couch. With exaggerated playfulness, he pretended like she really had pulled him with a lot of force, hopping up and sprinting several steps away, dragging her with him because of their clenched hands. While he stopped abruptly, though, she kept going and slammed into his chest, not with a lot of force, but with enough that he had to take a step backwards to balance himself as he tried to catch her.

Except he couldn't.

He wasn't paying attention, but he was at the edge of the sunken part of the sitting area in the study. So when she slammed into his chest, he was incapable of catching himself and fell backwards with a grunted 'oof' sound as he tried to catch himself but failed because of the step. And Beckett fell right on top of him, although her landing was much softer because she landed on him rather than the floor.

He looked up at her with a surprised look on his face. The look on her face mirrored his, before she rolled her eyes at him. "Geez, Castle, I have to say, this is getting a little bit old. This is, what? The _fourth_ time you've fallen down today? Do you have no imagination anymore? I mean, if you want to get me in a compromising position for some lip action, have you ever thought about just, oh, maybe _asking_?"

He stared at her, dumbfounded. He was still surprised from finding himself on the ground again, but then she was saying...whoa! She thought he planned this?

"What? I didn't...the step...it was an accident!"

She pushed herself off of his chest and sat on the floor by him. "Sure, Castle. You do some crazy things, but I have never seen you fall down that much in one day before, and we've spent plenty of days together."

He was still leaning on his elbows. "But...it's...hey, wait a minute! Some of those were your fault! We already covered that in the kitchen this morning, when _you_ fell and pulled_ me_ down!" He sat up as he was speaking and pointed his finger at Kate and then himself when he said the words.

"Yeah, right, Castle. Try to shift the blame to _me_! What about outside with the snowball, when you..." she trailed off as she remembered that the reason he fell was all because of her, first for baiting him with the 'rubdown' comment, and then because she inadvertently pushed him down when she fell on him when she lost her balance. And then she remembered when she tackled him after the snowblower incident; once again, where she was the cause.

As he could see the wheels turning in her head, realization dawning in her brain that she was directly or indirectly the cause of all of the precarious balance mishaps that she had previously pinned on him, he cocked his head to the side and with a smug smile, prompted her, "When I what, Detective? When I dropped the snowball and then _you_ fell on _me_? Hmmm, that has a familiar ring to it, just like the episode in the kitchen..._you_," he pointed at her, "fell on _me_," he finished, pointing to himself. "So by your own words, Beckett, since you said that I am the one trying to get you in a lip lock by falling on you, then it must actually be _you_ who is trying to get _me_ in the aforementioned lip lock because you are actually the fall-ER, where as I am just merely the fall-EE."

"Is fall-ee even a word?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm proving a point, of which you're very carefully avoiding the implications. And that point is that you are hot for me."

Her mouth dropped open at his blunt statement, delivered with a very cocky, but very cute, grin. But she tried to salvage some of her dignity by telling him, "You're delusional. Did you have funny mushrooms on that sandwich of yours?"

He just grinned again at her attempt at deflection, completely ignoring her sassy question. "So Beckett, you know if you wanted all of this lip action," he said, quoting her first statement after she fell, "why didn't you oh, just _ask_?" He leaned closer to her, inches away from her face, and continued in a low voice, "Because, you know, I would have happily obliged you."

He saw the fleeting look of uncertainty, before her expressive eyes changed ever-so-slightly into a mask of annoyance. She made a show of rolling her eyes. "I just bet you would. Under the guise of 'french lessons', no doubt?" She stood up, putting a little distance between them as she spoke the words.

Castle followed her as she stood up. "Call it whatever you want. I just know I enjoyed it. Enjoyed it..._all _the times. Immensely. And I really would like to try it again."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely."

"Why?"

"Beckett. Do you really have to ask? Because if you do, then maybe you need another little demonstration." He stepped closer to her.

She countered by stepping back. "No, no. I'm fine."

He looked at her quizzically. The sudden, strange look in her eyes puzzled him. "What's wrong?"

Her answer was almost immediate. "Nothing's wrong."

"Liar." He stepped closer to her again. "Come on, Beckett. We were just joking around and then all of a sudden, you're somewhere else." He took her hand. "Come here." He led her back over to the couch and made her sit down, and then he sat next to her. He turned so he was sitting sideways, with one leg bent on the couch and his arm on the back of the couch as he faced her. "Now, tell me why you're so serious all of a sudden."

"I came along to help Alexis with her french."

"I know. And it was really nice of you to say it was okay for her to go spend the night with her friends."

But still, she was silent, and he wasn't going to sit and watch her look at her lap when he knew there was something bothering her. "Kate." The use of her first name got her to look at him. "Tell me. Go slowly if you want, but tell me. Because it's going to be a hell of a long weekend if there's something bothering you that you can't tell me about."

Her eyes held his for a moment more, registering the sincerity in his before she looked back to her lap, and then up to the ceiling as she sighed. "We, uh..." she began, but then stopped again.

"Kissed?"

"Shut up, Castle. I'm trying to get this out and I don't need you interrupting me every two words." She took another deep breath, and continued in a soft, yet exasperated voice. "Yes, we...kissed. Several times. But I'm just realizing that I've spent a good part of the day making out with one of the great modern playboys of the western world. And that is so not me. That's not why I came along with you here. And I don't like it."

"The making out?"

She sneaked a look at him, but found it easier to talk to the ceiling so her gaze returned upward. "No, I think you can guess otherwise by what happened before I gave you your cookie. I like that just fine, and that's part of the problem. But I'm nobody's conquest, Castle."

The solemn tone of her voice let him know how torn she was, how conflicted she felt. He put his free hand on top of hers in her lap and gave it a slight squeeze. "You're not my conquest either, Kate," he told her softly.

"Right. I've seen you in action, Castle. You expect me to believe that? You told me you wanted just that very thing right after we met."

He took his hand from the back of the couch and scrubbed it over his face. The past does come back to haunt you. "I know what I said then, but that was then. I didn't know you then. You were just some sexy, beautiful, intriguing cop. You're still all of those things, but now I know that you're a hell of a lot more that that. And I'm smitten by you. Have been for a long time. And Kate? You don't get smitten by a conquest."

She didn't say anything, so he continued. "I know my reputation. But that isn't all me. A lot of it is carefully crafted publicist fodder to sell books. I won't lie and say I haven't had some meaningless flings, because I have. But really, not in a few years. I think you know who that one was. And even since then, I've changed. You're _not_ a conquest to me. You're a lot more than that, and I think if you stop to think about it, you'd have to admit that you know that."

She thought about his words, and both of them were silent for a few minutes. Finally, she turned to him and looked him straight in the eye. "Okay, say we continue this way now...what happens after this weekend?"

"We continue this way, only back in the city. Maybe I could take you out for dinner somewhere?" He paused again and then implored, "Kate, there's something between us. I can feel it, and I know you can too or we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

She was silent again, contemplating his words, his suggestions. When she didn't say anything else, he continued, and tried to put it in more simple terms. "Look, Kate, I know you trust me, to some degree anyway. You've given me your gun before. So trust me now. Whatever happens, I'm going to put just as much into this as you. I promise. But we both have to try, to see where it leads. I want to. Do you?" He paused for several seconds, and then, in rush, blurted out, "?"

At his verbal explosion, she gave him a sideways look. "This weekend, Castle. I'll give it a try for this weekend. But no funny business. Two beds. Clothes stay on. We'll see how it works here and if we can take this home with us or if we should just forget about it. That going to work for you?"

He grinned a cocky grin. "So where do you want to go for dinner in the city? Because this is definitely going to work and we are definitely going to take this home with us."

The mood was now lighter, and they were back to their familiar banter. Although the banter now had the overtones of something else, and that something else provided a new bit of electricity to the exchange. "Pretty sure of yourself, huh?"

"Always."

She rolled her eyes.

"Uh, Beckett?" he asked.

'_Oh, no,' _she thought. '_Here it comes._' "What, Castle?"

"Can I kiss you now? I mean, neither of us has tripped or fallen down, and you did tell me that I just had to ask, and by saying that I just have to ask, you're kind of implying that the answer will be in the affirmative."

She looked up at the ceiling and pretended to be considering it. "Good points. So if, by your rationale, the answer is an automatic yes, then why not just do it?"

"I'm polite? And the implication was that I only get the yes if I do ask." he suggested.

"Yeah, whatever. Just kiss me, Castle."

"Gladly," he responded as they leaned toward each other, his lips meeting hers tenderly.

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Later, after venturing into the kitchen (without falling) to get a couple more pan cookies, they sat on the couch in the study, testing out some of their new-found closeness. He had his arm around her shoulders and she was snuggled into his side, a blanket thrown over them as they looked at a photo album of pictures from the Hamptons house retreats over the years. Kate laughingly looked at photos containing an adorable younger version of Alexis, a young and buff Castle (which she could see because a lot of the photos were on the beach, where he wasn't wearing a shirt), and a blond Martha.

When they were about halfway through the album, though, the room suddenly plunged into semi-darkness as the overhead lights went out, and the soft jazz music from the wall stereo ceased playing. Kate sat up a bit and turned surprised eyes to Rick, seeing his face bathed in only the residual light from the lone window across the room.

"It looks like the storm is getting worse. I think we just lost power."

* * *

_**That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think.**_

_**Got a few good power outage things planned. Stay tuned!**_

**_Hope the relationship talk wasn't too 'out-there' or heavy for you. I intended to address it a little, but like a lot of my stuff, it just kind of wrote itself and got a little longer than what I originally intended. But I tried to end it on a good note, a little bit lighter, if you will. _**

_**Countdown...mixed feelings. Great show, but I came to the realization today that I'd built it up too much in my mind that there would be some sort of positive forward progress for C/B and their relationship. Read too many of the message board posts with people saying that DMB just HAS to be history after this. I started believing it. So when he wasn't, I was pretty bummed (even before the episode was over). But in trying to look at the episode without all of the hype, I could see that it's just a continuation of the other episodes from this year. There's some progress, but it isn't all hunky dory. So I'm just going to hope for the best and try to write a lot of fanfiction in the next three weeks until 3x18 airs. :)**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**I don't have too much to say right now, except here's chapter 10. And, of course, the usual disclaimer: I don't own Castle. He and his friends belong to the esteemed Mr. Marlowe (who was on the anniversary chat last night with TerriM, and (woo hoo!) she/they even answered two of my questions! I'm still giddily amazed! And I know...I'm a geek!)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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"Well, crap."

The two words that Kate spoke kind of summed up the situation. They had just lost power, it was now almost four o'clock in the afternoon, and whatever natural light of this blustery winter day that was currently filtering through the window wouldn't be around for very much longer.

"Do you have a generator?" she asked, hopefully. The man had every toy imaginable; she wouldn't put it past him to have a generator that could supply power for half of Long Island. She closed the scrapbook and put it on the other end of the couch that they weren't sitting on. Then she turned to fully face him. And when she saw him, she already had her answer before he even spoke.

"Uh...no." The look on his face was one of those comical ones-the 'why-didn't-I-think-of-that?' look that he got when he thought of something a little too late and was kicking himself. A look that he didn't get too often because he was usually the master of foreseeing the unusual possibilities.

"Great. How many more blankets do you have? Because with the size of this place, the number of windows, and the high ceilings, I imagine it's going to get cold in here pretty quickly if the power doesn't come back on soon."

"Uh, we have lots more, and we have extra bedrooms with blankets too. But Beckett? We have fireplaces. And they're all gas, so no problem in using them with no electricity."

She looked around. "Fireplaces, as in plural? Where? I just saw the one in the living room. I would have thought for sure that you'd have one in here, in your study, you know...curl up with a good book in front of the fire?"

"Believe me, if I had built the house, I would have. But in answer to your question, there's the fireplace in the living room that you saw, one in Mother's room, one in the three season hot tub room, and one in my room."

At the mention of Martha, Kate got a surprised look on her face. "Oh, my gosh...Martha! Castle, we should really go check on her. At least turn on her fireplace to keep the heat constant. If she's sick, she really shouldn't be cold."

When he was finally-finally!-cuddling on a couch with Kate Beckett, the last thing he wanted to do was get up and check on his _mother_. But his sense of obligation, and yes, his concern, did have him agreeing with her. "You're right," he told her. "Let's go." So he pulled the blanket off of them and stood up from the couch, offering Kate a hand. After she took it and he pulled her up, he dipped his head to capture her lips in a quick kiss before they went upstairs.

He meant for it to be a fast peck, a simple little kiss of affection before they went upstairs, but after her initial surprise, her free hand went around his neck and the kiss deepened quickly. Her response pleasantly surprised him, and he certainly wasn't one to pass up an opportunity like this. The temperature in his mother's room would stay constant enough while he enjoyed this little interlude. Kate showed no hesitation in offering her luscious mouth to him, and when she lightly bit his bottom lip with her teeth, he used his free hand and tangled it in the hair at the back of her head to pull her closer to him.

Oh, the woman was masterful! Of course, she hardly had to do anything...she just had to _be_ and he would still be intrigued. But kissing her...it was better, more intense than he had ever imagined before today. And he'd done plenty of imagining. Feeling her soft lips against his was heavenly. Sure, he'd always suspected that if they got the chance, they would be good together. But he really did have no idea.

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Martha was reading a book when the power went out. She was briefly surprised, but after a quick glance out the window, she knew the storm was indeed proving to be as bad as had been predicted. She thought that if she had to hole up in her room, she should probably see about getting a flashlight or some candles in case she had to move around the house later. On her way out of her room, she stopped by the mirror to make sure that she looked appropriately pitiful. It really went against her grain to _try_ to look bad, but if her illness ruse gave Richard and Kate the time and excuse for a bit of privacy to explore whatever was developing between them, then she would make the sacrifice.

She quietly padded down the stairs in her slippers, not really making any sort of sound at all on the plush carpeting. Of course, the living room was bathed in shadows, looking like an abandoned house. But she knew better, and as she listened, she could hear faint voices coming from the study. She crept closer and heard some muted discussion about fireplaces, and then she heard Kate exclaim her name, followed by some other conversation that she couldn't quite make out. She shrank back away from the door and leaned against the wall, prepared to claim faintness if they came out. But after a full minute with no appearance by the younger two, she carefully made her way to the door of the study and peeked around into the room.

She was lucky she'd brought her phone down in the pocket of her robe, because at the sight of her son and Kate in another romantic embrace, she quickly snapped a silent picture of them. Alexis would love to see this! Martha had seen him in 'romantic' situations before, but somehow, even though she couldn't quite point out how, this just seemed different to her. But she was no voyeur, so even though she liked seeing her son so obviously happy-and without a doubt, she knew that Detective Beckett made him happy-she ducked out of the room and went back to stand near the stairs so she wasn't too close to the study. She really hated to interrupt them...well, that wasn't entirely true. For the most part, she wanted to say out of the way and give them some privacy. But after a certain point, wasn't it a mother's job, after all, to annoy her son by interrupting him at inopportune moments? She almost let out a chuckle at that thought, but luckily stopped herself in time. However, with the power outage, she still had to take care of a few things, so she would have to interrupt them, even if she didn't want to. But she still had a part to play, so she glanced at her reflection in the glass of a picture frame, decided her hair still looked sufficiently unkempt, and feebly shouted "Richard?"

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Kate, in the middle of losing herself in the very pleasant (and hot) task of exploring every inch of Rick Castle's mouth with her own, registered a faint sound coming from outside of the study. While she didn't break the kiss, it was enough to alert her senses, so that when she heard the noise a second time, she could hear it for what it was: Martha calling for her son. And when the cause of the noise filtered into her conscious brain, she reluctantly but suddenly broke the kiss with Castle and pushed herself back and away from him. His eyes flew open and voiced the silent question: 'why?'

Through a labored breath, she pointed toward the doorway. "Your mother...she called you," she almost panted.

He gave her a conflicted look but moved to the doorway and looked out into the darkening living room, with Kate on his heels. "Mother!" he cried when he saw her leaning against the wall, all previous conflicting emotions forgotten as he rushed over to her. "What are you doing out of bed? Are you okay?"

Martha put her hand to her forehead in a gesture designed to evoke sympathy for the state of her health. "Fine, just a...oh, dear...just a little dizzy. I just wondered about the power when my light went off, and I thought I should get a candle or flashlight or something."

"You should go back to bed, Mother. Kate and I were just about to come up to check on you anyway."

Kate intervened. "Come on, Martha, let's get you back to your room." She took the older woman's elbow and then turned her head back toward Rick. "Castle, can you get your mother a flashlight or something? And maybe some water too?"

"Oh, yes, water would be lovely, dear. Richard?"

"Of course, mother. I'll be up in a few minutes."

After they got Martha tucked back in her bed, ice water at her bedside, flashlight on the bedside table next to the glass of water, and fireplace turned on, they went back downstairs into the rapidly darkening living room. Kate was amazed at how quickly the light was fading. She turned to Rick as they descended the last step into the living room. "Do you have extra flashlights? I think we're going to need something pretty quickly."

"In the kitchen. Come on."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After they found the flashlights, Rick led them back to some closets in one of the spare bedrooms where the family stored a lot of extra items. There was a large plastic storage container marked 'candles', which was aptly named because it contained candles of every shape, size, variety and theme. Even including a box of candles to adorn the top of a birthday cake. When Kate peered into the box, she looked up at Castle in amazement. "Wow. This is...the epitome of organization. I have to say, Castle, I'm impressed."

"I can't take too much credit. It's all due to Alexis. We were up here for a weekend last summer and it rained the entire weekend. She got it in her head to try to organize something. I told her to pick one thing. She took a look at some candles that were sitting on the table, and decided to do candles. She was like a little hurricane, rummaging through the house, determined to find every last candle that we had so she could put them in this box. It was even tough to get her to leave a few of the seasonal ones out for decoration."

She laughed at the image of a red-headed whirlwind on a massive candle siege. "We'll have to talk about that when she comes back. In french. So I can thank her for her foresight."

In lieu of carrying the box out of the room because it was quite heavy, they found a basket and piled several candles inside. Rick picked it up, and Kate took a few more in her arms. She stopped by Martha's room to drop a few off so Martha wouldn't have to use the flashlight batteries, making sure to light them before she left the room. After they chatted for several minutes, Martha thanked her again for her help before Kate left to go back downstairs.

When she got downstairs, she was pleasantly surprised and her lips curled unconsciously to form a smile. Castle had set candles...everywhere, it seemed. The flickering glow that they cast on the walls was beautiful in it's muted way. And he'd started the fire in the fireplace, which added to the wonderful glow around the room. A fire and candlelight? The man couldn't have set a more romantic scene if he'd tried. If she didn't know better, she might have bet that he'd conspired with mother nature to knock out the power so they'd be forced to use the candles.

She followed the trail of lit candles to the kitchen, where she found the man himself opening a bottle of wine. "Nice ambiance," she told him as she walked up to him.

He shot her a sideways grin. "Borne out of necessity, but it did work out nicely, didn't it?" He grabbed a wine glass from the holder above them, poured her some and handed her the glass. "Are you hungry yet?" he asked her as she took a sip.

She looked around. "What are we going to eat? Are you going to roast marshmallows over one of the candles?" she asked with sarcasm.

He smiled another smug, but endearing, grin at her. "Why, Detective, have you no faith in me? Rest assured, I _will_ feed you more than roasted marshmallows."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "I can't say that I'm not wondering what you're up to, but I think this is one of those times when it's better not to ask. But in answer to your question, no, I'm not terribly hungry yet. We had lunch kind of late."

"So what do you want to do until then?" he asked her with a comical leer. "Care to pick up where we left off before the old lady so rudely interrupted us?"

She whacked him on the shoulder lightly in mock reproach. "Your poor _mother_," she scolded, "was _sick._ And she needed you_._"

"And she interrupted me entertaining my houseguest."

"Well, technically, I'm Alexis' houseguest, am I not?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "And is that how you 'entertain' all of your houseguests, Castle?"

"In answer to the first question, since Alexis isn't here, and since I own the house, you have become _my_houseguest. And for the second question...well, _that_ sort of entertainment is only brought out when I'm holed up with beautiful, french-speaking brown-haired detectives when the power goes out."

"So it appears that I met your criteria for that sort of 'entertainment'."

"You did. And if you hadn't, I would have just made new criteria. Because I honestly can't think of a nicer way to try to 'entertain' you," he confessed with a devilish smile.

Just then, a thought occurred to her. "But maybe I can." She took one more sip of her wine and then set the glass down on the counter. Grabbing a candle, she dashed from the room.

"Beckett?" he called after her. "What are you doing?"

"Just be patient." He heard the faint reply after she fled from the room. He wondered what she was up to, but he thought he'd let her have a few minutes for whatever she had planned. She had a playful look on her face right before she'd rushed away. He so seldom got to see that side of Beckett, and he was intrigued by it and wanted to give her the chance to see what she was up to. Besides, they were snowbound. Where would she go?

So he leaned against the counter, sipping his wine, and started mentally preparing their dinner, trying to think about what he'd planned and what he'd have to alter because of the power outage. Obviously they couldn't use the microwave for any of the preparations. He was in the middle of his ruminations when Kate appeared in the doorway again, and when he caught sight of what she was carrying, a smile overtook his face.

"You are _perfect_!" He set his wine glass down and went to relieve her of half of the laser tag gear that she was carrying. "What better time to play laser tag than when we're in the dark anyway?"

"That's what I was thinking."

Just then, a thought struck him. "Hey, how did you even know about this stuff anyway, let alone know where to find it?"

She smiled at him sweetly. "Your _mother_ told me when she asked me to keep you busy so you didn't disturb her rest."

"Remind me to thank the old lady," he joked. She reached out and swatted his arm again, like she'd done the last time.

"Do you know how to work this?" he asked.

"I can probably figure it out, but why don't you give me the nickel tour? And then prepare to get your butt kicked."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They'd declared the upper level off limits, so as to not disturb Martha, but the rest of the house was fair game. They settled on the rules of battle and then had retreated to opposite corners of the ground floor to ready themselves for their respective attacks. At the appointed time, they began their approaches. Kate kept low and tried to draw on all of her training. They had blown out most of the candles for safety and to make the playing field a bit more challenging, so the light that remained was dim at best. She listened intently for any sign of Castle as she tried to keep hidden behind the walls and furniture.

At the same moment, Castle was thinking that if Kate thought he would be an easy mark, she had another thing coming. Sure, she could handle a real gun, but he was experienced at playing laser tag and after all, this was his house so he knew the territory. If he had to guess, he would bet that she would take the back way out of the kitchen through the dining room, trying for the sneak attack. He trained his laser gun on the doorway and waited patiently. And sure enough, he saw her and fired.

Kate saw Castle's figure raise up and aim at the last second and her reflexes sent her diving forward behind a chair. "Ha!" she shouted. "Missed me!" Peeking out, she could see him leave his hiding place and make a run for a bookcase. She raised her gun and fired, but then was chagrined to see the shots go wide. Damn gun! She was used to her own gun, not some lighter, longer toy thing. Making the adjustment wasn't as easy as she thought it would be.

"Back at you, Ms. 'I'm gonna kick your butt'! Care to revise that statement?" Castle asked her haughtily.

She knew she had to trap him. Or she had to draw him into a trap. She quickly looked around but of course couldn't see very much in the dim light. Then she saw it, and she remembered. The study...it was perfect. It was a small enough of a room to allow her to take him out quite easily, but large enough to afford her several hiding places if he somehow managed to avoid her assault.

But she needed a diversion, to draw him away from what she intended to do. She crept over to another chair in the opposite direction. She could make out the outline of a table nearby, and felt on the bottom shelf of a table for a book. Perfect. She grabbed the book and leaned out of her hiding place to the area where she knew Castle was hiding. She fired off a few laser bursts in his direction, and then tossed the book a bit to her side, making sure to throw it hard enough to hit something and make a noise. Then she took off running for the study in a low crouch.

Rick saw the blasts and then heard something fall to his right, but he was anticipating her to throw a diversion at him so he forced himself to look in the opposite direction. He was right. He'd been in enough gunfights with her to know how she reacted. He could just make out her form in the dim light to see her crouch-sprinting toward the library. Ah, she was trying to entrap him by getting him to come after her! The sneaky minx! He fired at her just as she reached the doorway, mainly to let her know that he was on to her. He missed again, but at least was confident in knowing what her plan was. Immediately after his shots, her body shot through the doorway and she was out of sight.

But in the next few moments, the game was forgotten when he his ears registered the sound of a small scream followed by some sort of a crash in the study. Those two sounds together, when he knew one of them came from Kate-who was _not_ normally a person to scream, in any volume-struck fear in him down to the marrow of his bones as he dropped his laser gun and sprinted after her toward the study.

_**

* * *

**_

Hope you enjoyed that! Longest 'Blizzard' chapter yet.

_**About the fireplaces...I checked with my other half, and he said that although most gas fireplaces have some sort of an electrical component, it is possible to have a gas fireplace that works when there's an electrical outage. So, since this is fluffy fiction, I went with that possibility because it works for the story. If you don't like it, tough (said in only the nicest way, of course). ;-) Artistic license has to be good for something, right?**_

_**Reviews are always appreciated, and loved, and adored, and treasured...**_

_**And for those of you who are also reading my other in-progress story, 'The Plan', let me know which one you'd like to see updated first. I'd love to update both, but alas, I just can't seem to get that cloning thing to work so I can work on both stories at once.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Thanks for all of the reviews for the last chapter! Wow! Thank you! And I'm glad you liked it. Really glad. Really!**_

_**There are some fluffy moments in this chapter, so if you don't like fluff, don't read. :)**_

_**Disclaimer: still don't own anyone.**_

* * *

After the scream and the crash, Rick dropped his gun and raced toward the study. "Beckett!" he shouted. When he got to the door of the study, he realized that he couldn't see anything, so he jumped back to the living room and grabbed the first thing he found: a candle in a glass jar that was sitting on a table a few feet away. Before he got back to the study, he registered the sound of somewhat loud, controlled breathing coming from the study. When he made it inside with the candle, he noticed Kate sitting, or rather sprawled, in the middle of the room next to an end table, her laser gun discarded on the floor to her side. A lamp was broken on the floor side of the table, and she was holding out her foot in front of her, still breathing deeply through her mouth. He bent down by her, and after setting the candle safely out of the way, gently touched her arm. "My God, Kate, what happened? Are you okay?" he asked her, fear and concern for her dripping from every word that he spoke.

She breathed a few more times through her mouth, obviously in pain and trying to climb over the pain so she could talk. "I ran through the doorway," she started, gritting her teeth and taking another couple of breaths. "I forgot about the step in here and I rolled my ankle." Another deep breath. "Stupid. And then I crashed into the table." She looked to her side. "Sorry about the lamp. I'll replace it."

"Beckett, don't be an idiot. I don't care about the lamp. I care about you."

At the simple declaration, her eyes whipped to meet his in the flickering candlelight. His hand moved to her back and rubbed it, trying to soothe her even though he couldn't take the pain in her ankle away. "Do you think it's broken?"

She looked at her ankle in the dim lighting and pulled her pant leg up a bit. She attempted to move her foot gingerly, and she was relieved that she was able to move it around a bit. It still hurt like hell to move it more than a few millimeters in any direction, but she didn't tell him that. "No, I can move it, so that's good. But it hurts. It's probably just a sprain."

"_Just_ a sprain is bad enough, Kate." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I can't even take you to the hospital to get it x-rayed." He glanced toward the window even though they couldn't see anything outside. "God, I'm so sorry, Kate."

She was touched by how dejected and concerned he sounded. But made her more mad at herself, because she was the one who caused this. It was her idea to play laser tag, and then she got the brilliant idea to run in here. And she forgot about the sunken part of the room. And then she remembered Rick getting caught up by the step a bit before the lights went out, when she was giving him grief about always falling down, where he pointed out that it was her doing the main amount of falling. And now she'd fallen again, but this time she'd certainly made a grand mess of it, breaking a lamp and spraining her ankle. At least it was only her ankle; the rest of her felt fine; well, the rest of her except for her head where she'd hit it on the table as she fell. She'd probably need something for that eventually.

But looking at his face in the dim light, she could see that somehow he blamed himself, even though that was stupid...she knew it was all her fault. "Castle, snap out of it. You have nothing to be sorry for. It was my own stupid fault."

"I should have..." he searched for something to say. "I should have closed the door to the study. I didn't even put any candles in here." She could see the regret etched in his face, hear it in his voice.

"And I shouldn't have run in here. Don't beat yourself up over it. I just beat my ankle up enough for the both of us." He winced at her words, and she was instantly sorry she'd uttered them. "Come on, Castle. You're not responsible." She rolled her eyes at him, even though it hurt her head, and she couldn't stop the involuntary grimace, which of course he noticed. He eased down more until he was sitting next to her legs, facing her. He stretched an arm across her lap and leaned closer to her.

"Kate? What else hurts? My God, it was the table, wasn't it? What part of you hit the table?"

"It's nothing, Castle."

He got one of those determined looks on his faces, one that he only got when he was deadly serious about something. His voice was steely when he spoke again. "Kate, you roll your eyes at me at least twice a day. _Never_ have I seen you wince when you do it. Did you hit your head on the table?" He stared her down, blue eyes to hazel, but she didn't speak. "I need to know, Kate," he insisted, more softly.

She took a breath but made a conscious point not to roll her eyes again. "Yes," she confirmed simply.

"Where?"

"Left side, above my ear, but toward my face more," she admitted in a resigned voice.

Without saying a word, he raised his right hand and oh, so tenderly, threaded his fingers through the long brunette strands to gently cup the side of her head with his whole hand, to see if he could feel a bump without putting too much pressure on any one spot. Instinctively, she leaned into his touch just a bit. He was sorry to feel the bump where she had come in contact with the edge of the hard oak table, but at the same time he was relieved to find that the bump wasn't larger. They sat for several long seconds, their faces just inches away from each other. Then he could stand it no more, and his face moved forward and he kissed her tenderly, just brushing his lips against hers. Then the hand that was in her hair moved to the back of her head as he pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. She leaned into him and breathed in his masculine scent. She wrapped her arms around his torso, and the pain in her ankle was momentarily forgotten as she just let herself revel for a few seconds in the wonderful feeling of being held by him, and of holding onto him. So far, they'd always kissed if they'd been close to each other. They'd never just held each other, and she thought, with a tingle of contentment in her belly, that this was another new feeling that she could get used to.

After a few minutes, she heard him whisper again, "I'm so sorry."

She hated to hear that remorse coming from him, for something that was so not his fault, so she pulled back slightly and told him sternly, "Castle, I told you to stop that. This was _my_ fault. Not yours. So knock it off, okay?"

He looked at her, but the concerned look never left his face. "Can't I just be sorry that it happened to you?"

"No, because I know you're blaming yourself for something. So stop it or I'm going to have to shoot you."

"Fine."

Then she happened to glance down to the floor where she'd dropped the laser gun. Quick as lightning, she grabbed it and fired a blast of light right at the center of the vest he was still wearing, which lit up and flashed. His mouth dropped open and she put down the gun and laughed. "There. I shot you anyway. And that means I win," she added smugly.

Then he laughed with her. "Geez, Beckett, the things you won't do to win a game of laser tag."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They eventually decided they needed to get back to the kitchen. Kate asked for some help on her right side, thinking Rick could help her hop back to the kitchen to start dinner, since any further laser tag was out of the question. But Rick quickly nixed those plans and, amidst her protests, simply picked her up bridal-style and carried her to the kitchen, where he set her on one of the swivel chairs at the counter. "Hey, Beckett? Have you looked at the size of this place? If you try to hop around here on one leg, that leg is going to be ridiculously sore in no time." He pulled out the chair next to her and gently lifted her leg onto the cushion of the chair. Then he grabbed the flashlight from the counter and shined it on her ankle to get a better look. And when the light came on, both of them emitted twin sharp gasps of air as they saw the ankle, already swelling and starting to turn a little purple around the outside.

"Stay here," Rick ordered as he grabbed something out of a drawer and disappeared toward the front of the house.

"Where else would I go, Castle?" Kate muttered to herself, stating the obvious.

He came back in a few minutes later holding a gallon-sized plastic bag filled with snow from outside. And not only that, his face was red from the cold and he looked like he was all of a sudden going prematurely gray from all of the snow that was on his hair.

"You went _outside_? In a _blizzard?_"

He brushed his hair off and shivered before he placed the bag of snow gently on her ankle. "Voila! Mother Nature's ice pack, for the swelling. I figured the blizzard might as well be good for something. And when that melts, there's plenty more where that came from. Now just sit and talk to me while I get dinner ready."

"What are we having anyway? What _can_ we have with no power?"

"Beckett, I told you not to worry. How does steak sound to you?"

"Sounds disgusting if you want me to eat it raw."

"Oh, it'll be cooked. How do you want it?"

"Medium-well, please. But how are you going to cook it?"

"I'll show you later. Are you okay to chop some veggies?"

She nodded and he started getting things out of the refrigerator. She sat back and watched him, because his attempts to get everything out of the refrigerator fast were pretty comical; he didn't want to let too much of the coldness out of the fridge if he could help it. However, she thought that his antics, while admirable and quite entertaining, probably weren't making a whole lot of difference in the inside temperature of the refrigerator than if he'd just gone about the process the normal way.

So they cut and they chopped, and they laughed at Rick's stories from some of his first book signings, and at Kate's more unusual adventures from when she'd been a new cop on patrol. Rick thought kabobs were the best for the cooking situation, so when they were assembled, he left the room with a plate full of them. He returned a few minutes later and stood in front of her. "Come on. You want to see how I'm cooking them, so we'll go see it. But you're not hopping, so get that idea out of your head right now." It wasn't a tone that she heard very often from him, but she still wasn't one to just acquiesce without putting up some sort of a fight.

"Castle..." she warned.

"Stuff it, Beckett. Do you want to sprain the other ankle? It's _dark_. Even with a bunch of candles, it's still dark. So I can either carry you like I did before, or I suppose I can give you a piggy back ride. So what'll it be?"

He had a point, damn him. So she went with option two. "Turn around, Castle." He grabbed the bag of snow off of her ankle and then turned around, and she boosted herself onto his back. She hugged his broad shoulders so as not to choke him and laid her head on his shoulder. It made for another sweet type of embrace...that is, until he started making horsey sounds when he'd taken a few steps. With her lips close to his ear, she replied "Castle, if you giddy-up or gallop, I _will_ bite your ear." He stopped.

He carried her to the three-season room, which was noticably cooler than it had been in the other part of the house. But she could see and smell the kabobs grilling on a grill that was built into an inside fireplace. "In the summer, you can open up this room. I do have an outdoor firepit, but this grill is nice to use because it's in the shade, but you can still get the ocean breeze when everything is opened up. We use this a lot in the summer. We could even make s'mores for dessert!"

He sat her down on the wicker couch and put the snow bag back on her leg. He left the room and came back with a few blankets. He sat down next to her and snuggled right down by her before she could even think about it, drawing the blankets around them and over them. Aside from the snow on her leg, she had to admit that she was warm and quite content, despite the fact that almost the same position less than twenty four hours ago had made her pretty uneasy.

They decided to eat right in that room, and let the fire keep burning for warmth even after dinner was done and they'd taken the cooking grill off. Rick took a small plate up to Martha, and let her know that Kate had hurt her ankle and wasn't able to move around very well.

When dinner was finished, they moved into the living room (Kate opted for another piggy-back ride and told Rick that the threat of ear biting was still in effect for any horsey sounds or gallops), where Rick moved the couch directly in front of the fire. After he filled a new bag of snow for her ankle, he retrieved the bottle of wine that they'd started earlier, and they settled down to watch the flames dance around in the fireplace. While Kate was still getting used to this new 'closeness' thing with Castle, he apparently had no hesitation on that front. After he had everything they needed, he settled himself in the corner of the couch and pulled her back to rest against him, which afforded her the opportunity to stretch out her leg on the rest of the couch and afforded him the opportunity to put his arm very snugly around her. And even though he did break away right after they were settled, it was only to get a couple of pillows to put under her lower leg so it could be propped up higher. She felt thoroughly touched by the gesture, not only that once again, he'd thought of her and what he could do to make her leg feel better, but that he'd gotten up even after he was finally settled and comfortable just because he wanted to make sure her leg was all right.

They settled back down under the blankets and just talked about random things as they sipped their wine. Castle made no attempt to kiss her, which she found...odd. He just seemed content to be sharing her company and cuddling with her in front of the fire and the blizzard continued on outside. As they talked more and more, and polished off the last of the bottle of wine, Kate relaxed more and more into him. And somehow, it didn't feel strange anymore, to be sitting there like that, with him. Somehow, it only felt...right.

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I was going to go a teensy bit farther with this chapter, but I thought that seemed to be a good place to end it. Hope you enjoyed it!

_**I think some of you are more devious than me...when I ended the last chapter, I was fully intending that she'd gotten hurt. But there were several people who thought she was just tricking him, so in honor of your deviosity (if you've read 'The Plan', you'll get that), I put in that bit where she did zap him with the laser tag gun. And after it was written, I could see that it would totally be something that she would do.**_

_**Thoughts?**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Wow again! I'm happy everyone liked the last chapter. After the last chapter was published, this story hit 100 in people who have it marked as a favorite and 200 for story alerts. Shout-outs to Jenjac for being the 200th story alert and to IBelieveYouLiar for being the 100th favorite! And many, many thanks to the other 199 and 99 that came before you!**_

_**And kudos to MTAM and Dee Hensley for catching the reference to the TVGuide article and pictures in the last chapter. Good thing she wasn't playing laser tag in THAT dress, huh?**_

_**I love the little snippet suggestions...honestly, that's what made me have him shoot her with the laser gun at the end of that scene.**_

_**Disclaimer: although I may wish otherwise, I don't own Castle or anything about it.**_

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"Wanna play cards?"

They had been laying on the couch for a while together, and the conversation had slowed down. Rick was racking his brains trying to think of something for them to do that wouldn't hurt her foot anymore. Something that didn't involve electricity, since they didn't have any. Well, they didn't have any electricity in the conventional sense, he thought. They had plenty of the man-woman type of electricity that arced between them, but he knew he couldn't put too much of that to use yet or she'd run. Bolt. Scramble. Ditch. Flee.

And right now, he was perfectly content to have her laying against him so trustingly, seeming so content with how things were right now. But he also knew Kate, and he knew that she just might start to think, and overthink, and then she would think herself away from him. So he tried to think of things to occupy her mind, so that she wouldn't have the time or brainpower left to try to talk herself out of whatever it was he hoped was building between the two of them.

After he asked her about playing cards, he inwardly cringed and hoped that she'd say no. Until the words were out of his mouth, he hadn't realized that in order to play cards, they'd have to sit separately. And he loved how he was sitting with her now, with him half laying down in the corner of the couch and her laying against him, with his arm around her. He didn't want to move.

"Nah," she replied. "Not really in the mood for a card game right now anyway. Besides, you'd totally be able to see my hand. So not fair, Castle."

Whew. So she didn't seem to want to move either. That was good...very good. But he tried to play it cool, telling her "It was worth a try, anyway. You won the laser tag game. I have to redeem myself."

Just then, a thought came to him. "Hey, I know. Have you ever done mad libs?"

She looked back at him. "Sure, I've done them. But not in ages. I mean, aren't they a good slumber party thing? Can't say that I've really been to a slumber party in oh, the last decade, at least."

He raised one eyebrow at her. "Really? Not one _slumber party_ in the whole last decade?"

She caught onto his alternate meaning by the way he said 'slumber party', so she decided to have a little fun with him. She turned in his embrace so she was facing him a little more, and with a low and seductive voice, she told him, "Ah, you mean _private_ slumber parties. Yes, I've been to quite a few of those. But Castle, at the slumber parties I go to these days, the _private_ ones, there's not a lot of slumber, and there are _certainly_ no mad libs." To punctuate her statement, she trailed a finger down his chest seductively as she spoke. "There's plenty of..._other_ activity going on."

Her meaning clear, his only response was to gulp as his unblinking eyes stared into her playful ones. She laughed, and then added cheerily, "So how do you think Alexis' little blizzard slumber party is going?"

She watched his face as his mind went in precisely the direction she knew it would. His mouth dropped open as his facial muscles slackened, and his eyes grew big as saucers as he correllated Beckett's innuendo of 'private slumber parties' with what his daughter was doing. She could feel the muscles in his body tense and the look on his face told her that his normally overactive imagination was now on overdrive as he started to get worried. She smiled as she gauged his reaction, and then let out a little laugh. "Castle..." she started to say, but then he made like he was going to get up, as if he was going to just storm over to the other house to rescue his daughter from whatever it was he was imagining.

Obviously, his mind wasn't with her anymore. She put a hand on his shoulder and tried to stop him from going anywhere, telling him "Whoa, there, Daddy Bear. Not so fast." But her position wasn't the greatest for leverage, so it wasn't appearing to have much of an effect as he was attempting to throw the blanket off of his lap. And he didn't seem to even be listening to her anyway. So she did the one thing that she knew without a doubt _would_ stop him: she reached behind his neck and pulled his lips to hers.

At the initial shocked stillness of his lips, she almost felt like laughing at him again. But then she realized that, once again, she was kissing him, and she really _liked_ kissing him. So despite the fact that her initial intention was only to distract him from obsessing about his daughter, it didn't take much for her to lose herself to the kiss, especially when he started to respond to it. So for her intention, her impromptu plan was highly successful, because if the way he was kissing her back was any indication, she didn't think that his daughter or her slumber party activities were anywhere in his mind right then.

And pretty soon, she wasn't thinking about Alexis either, or about distracting Rick. She was only thinking about kissing him. Everything else was forgotten except for the two of them and what their lips were doing.

Once Rick realized that she was indeed kissing him, it didn't take him long to run his fingers through her hair as he massaged the back of her head. As their lips angled this way and that, she tried to press closer to him, even though her position was kind of awkward. He must have sensed it, because his other arm wrapped around her and tried to haul her closer to him at the same time that she tried to turn herself toward him more. Unfortunately, both of them were so involved in the kiss that they forgot about part of the reason they were sitting the way they were; namely, Kate's sprained ankle. So when she turned more and attempted to use that foot to boost herself closer to him, she let out a small yelp of pain and surprise, which caused them to break their kiss.

She stopped immediately and shut her eyes tightly in a grimace as she waited for the fresh waves of pain from her ankle to subside. Rick wondered what had happened for a split second, but then he saw the look on her face and noticed that her leg was no longer propped on the pillows. "Oh, God, Kate. Your ankle...I'm sorry!"

Still with her eyes closed tightly, she ordered "Shut UP, Castle! It wasn't your fault. So stop apologizing. I moved wrong, that's all."

"But I..." he broke off as she opened her eyes and glared at him in intimidating Beckett fashion. "Fine. But let me try something, okay?"

"Does it involve you going out in a blizzard to rescue your daughter from potential would-be teenage lotharios?"

With the kiss and the ankle irritation, he'd forgotten about his idea of rescuing his daughter. "Oh...I have to call Alexis!"

"Castle, stop it. Think about it. Of all of the teenage girls in the world, do you think for one minute that Alexis would go to a slumber party if there were boys there? Really, Castle? And she knows I'm here too, and I'm a cop. That's pretty intimidating to a lot of kids."

"Well you started talking about..."

"No, _you_ started with the innuendo about what might happen at, shall we say, an adult-themed slumber party. I just went with it a little bit. Pulling your pigtails, Castle. I just wasn't counting on your imagination to run amok quite as much as it did. You wouldn't even listen to me when I told you to simmer down."

"But she's..."

She put a finger over his lips. "...at a supervised slumber party, with other girls her age, in the middle of a blizzard. I think the most you'll have to worry about is if she'll have a stomachache tomorrow from all of the junk food she's probably eating right now. Okay?"

She lowered her finger and he looked at her, with the makings of a very good pouty look on his face. "She's my little girl."

"Yes, Castle, she's your _daughter_. But she's not a little girl anymore. And as much as I hate that this may throw you into a conniption, I'm going to say it anyway: she's going to have sex someday."

He squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears as he shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no, bad visual. Bad, bad visual. No, no." She had to smile at his reaction because he loved his daughter and was obviously not ready for her to grow up. It was sweet. She reached up and took his hands away from his ears.

"Castle, I'm sure it's not something that's easy to think about, so why don't you just not think about it? Huh? You're just going to drive yourself nuts. Well, more nuts than you already are. Anyway, just what would you do about it now anyway? There's a _blizzard_ going on. It's snowing horizontally, for goodness sakes."

He let out a resigned sigh. "Can I at least try to call her?" he asked in a flat voice, with his brow furrowed into a semblance of another pout.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Castle, you don't have to ask my permission to call your own daughter. No, I wouldn't let you drive over there, because A, there's no reason except for your own deviant imagination and our own strange conversation that was more to do with me anyway, and B, there's a freaking blizzard outside! But if you're asking if I think it would be over the top if you called her to check in with her and say hi and chat about the weather or the power outage, then no, I don't think it would be."

He looked at her for a moment, and then she saw the corners of his lips turn up in relief. "Good. Let me run and get my phone. I'll be right back." He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and then made his way into the kitchen to retrieve his phone.

Kate watched him leave, and then automatically touched a finger to her lips as she smiled. Wow. That simple little kiss packed a punch. All of their other kisses had been toe-curlers, and they had both lost themselves in each kiss for at least a little while. But that simple little kiss...it packed a punch just because it was so simple, and so automatic. He left the room, and he kissed her before he left. It was the gesture of an established couple, who had been together for a while, who knew each others likes, dislikes and quirks. She thought about that for a second, and then she realized that she just described her and Castle. Even though the romantic part was new, they still did act like a couple. They knew each other; they knew what made the other tick. She just talked him down about his anxiety over his daughter growing up, and he knew so many things about her, from how she liked her coffee to her deep-seated anguish over her mother's murder.

She leaned back on the couch while she waited for him to return, thinking about the strange turn of events that had happened today. She was...oh, my God. She was romantically involved with Richard Castle, millionnarie, best-selling novelist. Oh, Lord. But while it was shocking, somehow it didn't feel as strange as she thought it would feel, although the thought of it did instill some sense of panic in her bones if she thought about it too much. But she could still back out...that was the main term of their agreement. And that alone did something to quell the panic. So...she made the promise to herself that she would try to go against her grain and think happy thoughts, because she _did_ have an out. She could just concentrate on enjoying it, enjoying him, while she was here. And there was one thing that she knew without a doubt, even this soon: she _really_ did enjoy the way that man could kiss!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Alexis watched as her friend Julia drew another card and then groaned. "I suck at this game!" she said and the other girls laughed when they saw what she had drawn. But then Alexis' attention was drawn away from her game as she recognized the familiar chime of her father's ringtone coming from her phone.

While she hopped up and ran back across the room to grab her phone, her mind inadvertently went to the picture that her Grams had texted her a few hours ago, the one that showed her father and Kate locked together in another romantic kiss, but this time, inside the house. She saw the accompanying message first, which didn't really make sense until she saw the picture: '_No need to worry about the house getting cold with no power; I think they have it covered.'_ After she saw the picture, she laughed a little bit but tried not to draw her friends' attention; they wouldn't get it and she didn't feel like explaining anyway. And a couple of these girls were the ones who had witnessed the dropped shorts incident at her birthday party, so they already tried to mention her dad as little as possible anyway.

"Hi, Dad," she said as she answered the phone, a little breathless from her run across the room.

Rick immediately caught the breathlessness, and his mind immediately went to where it was before Kate had brought him back to reality. "Hey, pumpkin!" he greeted her, trying to inject some innocent enthusiasm into his voice. "You sound out of breath. What's up?"

"Nothing. I had to run across the room to grab my phone before it went to voicemail. We're all laying around in front of the fireplace playing Chutes and Ladders."

"Chutes and Ladders?" he asked. That was _not_ what he expected to hear.

"Yeah. We know it's a little kids game, but Julia has a whole closet with all of these games, some of them from when her parents were little. So we're going through them. We're working our way up from easiest to hardest. We just got done with Ting-a-ling Bingo a little while ago. And Julia is the world's worst Chutes and Ladders player."

"Ting-a-ling Bingo?" Also not what he expected to hear. But nonetheless, he could feel the tension ebbing out of him at the sound of his daughter's happy voice. "Can't say that I know what that is, but it sounds very...melodic."

She laughed. "Very. So, how are you and Kate doing? And Grams," she added hastily at the end.

"We're all fine. Well, kind of fine. Your Grams isn't feeling well so she's holed up in her room. We haven't seen much of her." Alexis smiled to herself on the other end of the call; it seemed as though her grandmother was keeping true to her word of 'coming down with something'. "And Kate..." he trailed off.

Alexis was instantly alarmed at his tone. "Dad, what did you do to Kate? You promised you'd be good!"

"Whoa, honey! Kate kind of...uh...sprained her ankle."

"WHAT? Dad! What did you do?" At her exclamation, the other girls turned toward her to see what the fuss was about.

"We were playing laser tag after the power went out and she ran into the study for cover, and it was dark, and she didn't remember the sunken part of the floor. She missed the step and rolled her ankle."

"Oh, my God! Is it broken?"

"We don't think so. She can move it a little. We've been icing it."

"Tell her I hope it feels better soon, and that she should make you wait on her a lot. Oh, did you bandage it?"

"No. I'm not really sure about doing that, with the swelling."

"Well, if you want to, I have all of that leftover athletic tape stuff from last halloween. You know, when I made my own costume and I got it in all the different colors? That stuff that sticks to itself? You can use that. It's in the bottom drawer of my nightstand."

They talked for a few more minutes until Alexis said she had to get back to Chutes and Ladders. As he was winding up the call, he walked into stand by Kate once more. After he hung up, with a big smile on his face, she asked him, "I take it there are no wild teenage sex orgies happening at Julia's house?"

"No," he answered, and then somewhat sheepishly added, "They're playing Chutes and Ladders."

"Chutes and Ladders? As in, the preschool, little kids game?"

He explained what Alexis told him about the game closet. When he was done, she threw back her head and laughed. "Chutes and Ladders? Seriously?"

"I already said yes."

"So how stupid do you feel for the deviation that your mind took before?"

"Pretty stupid." He sat down next to her again, and she wrapped an arm around him and kissed him chastely on the cheek.

"Don't worry, Big Daddy. Your concern was kind of cute, although in a creepy sort of way."

"Thanks. I think."

They sat for a few minutes in silence, but she didn't move her arm from around him, and had actually laid her head on his shoulder. Then he asked, "How's your ankle?"

"Better, at least from how it felt when I twisted it before when we got...uh...carried away. It's not throbbing anymore." And suddenly, the words 'carried away' being used in the same breath with the word 'throbbing' evoked a sudden image in her mind, which really did not belong there yet. She quickly squashed it down and hoped that he didn't pick up on it or that her cheeks didn't heat up from the thought.

He shot her a sideways glance, but for once, she was having a hard time reading the look on his face. Then he slapped his thighs as he got up from the couch and told her that he had to get something and would be right back.

When he came back, he had a couple of soft, fluffy towels and several packages of stretchy athletic tape in a myriad of colors. He folded the towel accordian style lengthwise and wrapped it in a U-shape around the bottom of her foot. Then he wound the athletic tape around her leg to secure the towel in place, to act as somewhat of a soft splint, and to protect it a bit.

"Does that feel okay?" he asked when he was done. She nodded.

Then he got up and walked around the room, blowing out most of the candles except for one that was in a glass holder. Walking over to stand in front of her, he asked her, "Piggy-back or the other way?"

"Why? Are we going somewhere?"

"Yeah. I thought we should go to bed. It's getting late."

Just then, she yawned. "Piggy-back, if that's still okay with you on the stairs. Or I can butt-scoot too."

He just turned around and hoisted her onto his back when she stood up on her good foot. "Can I do a few giddy-ups this time?"

"Not unless you want your ear pierced with my teeth."

"Darn."

He made his way up the stairs by the light of the flashlight he was holding. As soon as they'd left the area by the fireplace, she noticed the drop in temperature. It wasn't enough that she could call it cold, but it was definitely cooler. She was momentarily puzzled when he didn't take her to the bedroom where he'd stationed her yesterday, but to a different room where a fire was burning brightly in the fireplace by the bed. He set her down so she could sit in a chair side of the bed. Then she looked around as she took in her surroundings. She noticed a pair of brown leather shoes that she recognized in front of the closet, and she brought her eyes back to his, to find him looking at her with a serious look.

"Castle, this isn't my room."

"I know."

"This is your room." Her voice held a cautious, warning tone to it.

"Yes. And tonight, this is your room too. You're staying with me tonight."

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So how will Kate respond to that little bombshell?

_**I know some of you wanted to hear about Alexis and the picture/text from Martha, so I threw that in there for some continuity. And there really was a game called Ting-a-ling Bingo...I had it when I was a kid, although admitting that probably dates me. But it was a cute game. I tried to go for a big contrast with where his concerned-daddy mind was going vs. the innocence of what they were actually doing.**_

_**So...thoughts? Love those reviews...lots and lots of them! (Makes me want to write the next chapter faster.) Click that little review link and let me know what you think!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hey, everyone! Thanks for being patient while waiting for this story to be updated, and while I got that other new story out of my head and into the computer. I probably spoiled you all with the frequent updates last week; I even surprised myself. Anyway, more people seemed to be waiting for and asking for updates for this story, so Blizzard is what I elected to update first.**_

_**Hope you enjoy it!**_

_**Disclaimer: The usual...don't own anyone. **_

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She looked at him through narrowed eyes and attempted her best Beckett-glare. He stared back at her, his gaze never breaking from hers. A challenge was issued, and accepted, with that gaze. It wasn't quite clear who was issuing the challenge, or who was accepting it. But they both knew that it was going to be interesting.

Kate spoke first, after she felt that her gaze had held his for a long enough time to help her make her point. When she spoke, her determination and resolve dripped from every word. "Oh no. I. Am. Not. Sleeping. With. You."

To her dismay, Castle seemed unfazed. "Of course you won't, at least not in the way that _you_ mean. That's not to say that doing that wouldn't be _quite _memorable," he held up a hand as she shot him a glare that could have wilted sunflowers. "But Kate, I am _not_ letting you sleep in your room tonight. The power is out, and that means the heat is out. It's already getting cold in the rest of the house, but this room has a fireplace, and therefore, heat. It makes sense."

"This house has more fireplaces than just this one."

"Sure it does. But this is the only one that makes sense." He held up one hand, extending one finger. "Sure, you could sleep with mother, but she's sick. Aside from the fact that I'm sure you really don't want to catch whatever it is that she has, do you _really_ want to sleep with my _mother_?" He gave an all-body shudder and made a 'blech' face. She stifled a smile...sometimes his facial expressions were so outrageously comical, like just then. Then he held up a second finger. "Yes, there's the one downstairs in the living room, but that room has a cathedral ceiling and it's huge! You can feel the heat when you're sitting on the hearth, but there's no way for that fireplace to generate enough heat to keep that entire room warm. And you can't sleep on the hearth."

"What about the one in the three-season porch?"

He looked at her and raised one eyebrow. "Beckett. Really. You felt how cold it was in there, even hours ago, even after we started the fireplace to cook. It's a three-season porch. Winter in a blizzard is _not_ one of those seasons."

"So by process of elimination, the fireplace in your _bedroom_ is the only one left?" She raised one eyebrow at him

He pointed a finger at her and gave her a little smile while nodding his head. "You catch on quickly, Beckett."

"Castle. I am _not_ sleeping in here with you. I am perfectly capable of snuggling under some blankets in my _own_ bedroom. Or rather, uh...your other bedroom that I'm using."

He took a deep breath, and she honestly thought she'd won. But then he uttered the word "No." Her jaw dropped.

"Castle, what the hell? Do you honestly think that I'm going to just...spend the night in here with you? Are you in_sane_?"

"No, I'm not insane. But you have a badly sprained ankle and you can hardly move around by yourself yet. So yes, I honestly _do_ think that you're going to spend the night in here with me. Nothing has to happen...unless you want it to," he said, waggling his eyebrows. She glared at him again. "Joke, Kate, only a joke. So anyway, yes, I expect you to stay in here with me, but I can be a perfect gentleman."

"You. Right."

"Yes. Me. I can't say that I won't kiss you goodnight, but that's all. I can promise that I will not ravish your body. Well, unless you find you _want _me to ravish your body. And if you do, I will be more than happy to accommodate you."

"Castle."

"Kate, give up. You are staying in here. You can put a wall of pillows in between us...I don't care. But I'm not letting you sleep somewhere else. You can't even move around decently. You should have someone close to you in case you need something."

"Like someone to ravish my body?" The words were dripping with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes.

"Or someone to get you a drink of water, or some ice for your ankle, or to help you to the bathroom."

She opened her mouth, but then closed it. He had a point. Damn it, he had a point. And since he mentioned the bathroom... "Uh, Castle? About the bathroom..." God, this was humiliating; having to ask him to help her to the bathroom.

He nodded as if to say he understood, but then walked toward the adjoining bathroom without her. On the way, he picked up a chair and carried it into the bathroom, along with a candle for some light. Then he came back out and, without a word, walked over to her and picked her up to carry her to the bathroom. "Hey, why not a piggy-back ride this time?"

"I thought this would be easier. And besides, I might still have an uncontrollable urge to giddy-up, and you just don't seem to be in a giddy-up type of mood right now." When they reached the bathroom, she could see that he'd put the chair right by the commode. "For leverage and balance when you...uh...you know," he explained.

Embarrassed that he'd already thought of the difficulty she'd encounter being only able to use one leg, she just nodded and didn't say anything. He quietly left the bathroom, saying "Just call when you're ready," before shutting the door behind him.

She did what she needed to, and she would be forever grateful to him for having the foresight to think of the chair there. After hopping the few feet over to the sink, she washed her hands and splashed some water on her face before she called for him again.

He opened the door slowly, peeking through the small opening in the door to see if it was really okay to come in before opening it all the way. She was surprised to find that he was carrying her overnight bag and her toothbrush that she'd left in the other bathroom. "I thought you might need these. I didn't bring your toothpaste though; you can just use mine but if you don't want to then I can go back and get yours. And I thought you'd want to change into something different to sleep in. But if you've already unpacked something, I can carry you back into your room so you can get it."

Still shocked that he'd thought of that, she just stared at him. She could tell by his rambling, fast-paced dialog that he was probably a little nervous, most likely for going in her room and getting her things without asking her. "Thanks, Castle. That was really...um...nice."

He smiled and visibly relaxed a bit at her words, then he set the bag down on the counter and just stood there. "Castle? I'm going to change now...?" she prompted.

He blinked his eyes and then his mind visibly snapped into gear. "Oh, yeah, right...I'll just, uh," he stammered as he pointed toward the door, "...I'll just wait out here. Call me when you're ready."

She stood there on one foot and quickly brushed her teeth before she looked in her bag. She'd worn a sleepshirt last night, but she'd also brought a pair of pajamas along and luckily, they were still in her bag. She grabbed the pajamas and hopped on her good foot over to the chair. She took off her shirt and bra first and changed into the pajama top. Then, she assessed the pants. They had really baggy legs and a drawstring waist, so they'd be perfect over the makeshift splint that Castle had formulated. But then she looked down at the yoga pants she was wearing, and realized that they were _not_ perfect. They were snug fitting, which meant that it would be at best trying and at worst painful to get them down over her injured ankle.

Damn. She was going to have to call Castle to help her. But first she grabbed one of the towels that was hanging up on the rack. She pulled her yoga pants down to her knees, and then took her good leg totally out of the pants before she sat back down and put the towel over her lap, tucking it under her so it didn't slide off. When she felt sufficiently covered, she called for Castle.

He peeked his head in the door a few seconds later and asked "Ready?"

"No." She took a deep breath and he could tell that she needed to say something but didn't really want to. "I never thought I'd _ever_ be saying this to you, but I need you to help me get my pants off." She saw the look of surprise on his face, and before the devilish smile that she just _knew_ was lurking inside of him could appear, she pointed at him threateningly and said, "Not one word, Castle, or I can guarantee that the curse of the snow bunny _will_ come to inflict some sort of wretched punishment on you when you least expect it."

He blinked again and transformed his face into a blank mask. "So, Detective, can you tell me why it is that you need assistance with uh...undressing?" She watched him carefully and although she didn't detect any teasing quality in either his tone or by the look on his face, she did notice that a muscle in his jaw twitched a few times.

She tried to explain, "My pants are tight-"

"I noticed," he said right away.

"Castle!" she warned.

"Hey, I've carried you several times. It so happens that I've touched the pants in question. So I know they're not baggy. Duh. Sue me for noticing."

"So my pants are tight," she began again, "and I can't get them down over the splint that you made for my ankle. So can you help shimmy them off of that leg, or can you take the splint off and then redo it?"

He assessed the tight pants which were pooled around the calf on her bad leg. There was no way they would go over the splint, so he started to take off the wraps. When her leg was freed, he gently pulled the pants over the injured ankle. When the pants were off, he looked up at her face for the first time and asked her, "Are you wearing anything else?"

"Although I'm sure you'll be disappointed, I _do_ have pajama pants," she told him, holding them up.

"Ah. Shall I?" he questioned, raising one eyebrow. At her nod, he held the calf of her bad leg up as he slipped the pant leg gently over her swollen ankle. Then she took over with her other leg. She was about to stand up when she realized he was right there.

"Turn around, Castle. I have to pull up my pants."

Now the sly smile returned before he stood up and turned around. "Afraid to let me see if you're a black or red panty girl?"

"I don't think your heart could take it. Because maybe I'm just a _no_ panty type of girl."

A deep little hiccup escaped his mouth as his head whipped around of its own volition, his eyes automatically aiming downward.

"Awwww...too late Castle. Guess you'll just have to wonder," she teased him, snapping her fingers in an 'aw, shucks' type of gesture. "Now can you help me out of here?"

He made like he was going to pick her up again, and she brushed him away. "No, just help me hop. If I let you pick me up now, it's a near certainty that you're going to try to cop a feel of my ass to find out the answer to the question that's now plaguing your mind." He gave her a look with raised eyebrows, but didn't say anything to refute her hypothesis. She figured that he was so shocked that she had predicted his actions so accurately that for once, he didn't know what to say.

He helped her to the closest side of his bed, and then he went back to the bathroom. She heard the sounds of him brushing his own teeth, then he came back with the supplies for her makeshift splint, which he attached around her ankle again for some stability. He pulled back the blankets and told her to get in and lay down, and then he put two firm pillows on either side of her injured ankle before pulling the blankets back up. "The pillows will keep the weight of the blankets off your bad ankle," he explained.

She was so touched at all of the little things he was doing to try to keep her pain-free. It was a new side of the Castle she knew. A side of him that she found that she really liked. She was settling into the rich cotton sheets and thinking about his thoughtfulness and she didn't even realize that he was already settling himself into the other side of the bed. And he'd left almost a full two feet of space between them, much to her relief.

She closed her eyes and said "Night, Castle." Then she felt his hand as it found hers and gave it a little squeeze under the blankets.

"Night, Beckett. Let me know if you need another blanket."

She settled down and closed her eyes. She was relaxed, but she could tell that she wasn't particularly tired anymore. After a good ten minutes of willing herself to sleep anyway, she opened her eyes and watched the reflection of the firelight dance on the ceiling.

"Castle?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not tired anymore. I can't sleep."

"Yeah, I'm pretty awake now too."

"Should we go back downstairs?"

"Do you really want to get out of this nice, warm bed?" he asked her.

"No. I'm pretty comfortable. I just can't fall asleep."

"Wanna talk?"

She laughed. "That is one thing that I never thought I would hear Richard Castle, playboy extraordinarire, say to a woman in his bed."

"It may just be a first," he conceded.

"But yeah, we can talk. Tell me...oh, I don't know. What was your first pet?"

He chuckled and told her about a goldfish that he got from a friend and how he kept it a secret from his mother. Until he had it in the bathtub to 'give it some exercise' and she walked into the bathroom and screamed when she saw it. "And she'd perfected the scream...believe me. She was playing a character that gets murdered and she'd been working on the scream. I had nightmares of that scream for a couple of weeks."

"And the fish?"

"Moby lived to the ripe old age of two months and four days."

And so it went on. They didn't really know how long they talked because the clocks were out, and they would have been amazed to learn that they were chatting until after three in the morning. Rick went, at one point, to get them both glasses of water. After setting the glasses down, he climbed back into the bed and shivered. "Boy, it's getting noticeably cold down in the kitchen. Brrr!" And though neither of them realized it, he laid a little bit closer to her when he resituated himself in the bed.

She thanked him for the water and raised up to take a few sips. She set her glass back down on the nightstand. And though neither of them realized it, she laid a little bit closer to him when she resituated herself in the bed.

The talking went on and on, neither one of them very tired and both of them having fun with the outrageous stories and confessions. It was all lighthearted...sometimes she would swat him, and other times he would nudge her. And without realizing it, they both continued to migrate closer to each other.

And when sleep finally took them both, that almost two feet of space that was initially between them had disappeared. Entirely disappeared. Because they were now laying side by side, with Kate's head resting against Rick's shoulder, and his face turned toward her hair. Somewhere their fingers had become entwined. And as the blizzard raged on outside, the detective and the author were snuggled together in a bed in front of a warm fire, under a mound of blankets, and peacefully content enough to fall asleep against each other.

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_**There it is. Hope it was worth the wait. No smut...but if you want smut, I have a couple of other stories for that... :)**_

_**By the way, the thing about the bathroom...personal experience. I hurt my leg once and couldn't bend it that much, although I could put weight on it. Using the bathroom was quite interesting (in a not fun sort of way). Can't imagine what it would have been like if I wouldn't have even been able to put weight on it. Ugh. So I decided to use my experience to have Castle be overly chivalrous by putting the chair in the bathroom for her to use for support.**_

_**So...let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Hey, everyone! It's time for another 'Blizzard' update! Thanks so much for the reviews for the last chapter. I absolutely LOVED that so many people commented on the bathroom scene! It is truly one of those things you don't think about until it becomes a problem. And since that last chapter was posted, I've found out that I have to have knee surgery in a couple of months, so I have this to look forward to (not!) in my future. Blech. Well, maybe I can write some really wild fanfics when I'm loopy from the pain meds and going stir crazy from not being able to drive.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Castle, except for a love of the show and the characters and a great admiration for the writers and performers for the excellent job they do.**_

_**Enjoy! (I hope.)**_

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Cherries.

He was dreaming he was in a cherry orchard. He must be picking cherries, because he could smell them everywhere. It was funny, because he'd never been to a cherry orchard before in his life. But he was certain he had to be there now, because with every breath that he took, he could smell them. And they were wonderful. The smell made him fell happy and peaceful and...content. Boy, he'd have to go cherry picking every chance he could if this is how just the smell made him feel.

Then he realized that he must have been picking a _lot_ of cherries, because his arm felt weighted down from them, like he was carrying a huge bucket of the little pieces of fruit. But wait a minute...wasn't it winter? Wasn't it snowing and...

His eyes flew open as his body jerked a little as it fully regained consciousness and he realized that the weight in his arm was not a bucket of cherries, but instead was one cherry-scented Kate. Somehow, she had turned so she was laying on her side, with her head on his shoulder and her hand laying on his chest, and somehow, his arm had gone under her to cradle her against him as they slept. After registering where he was, and where Kate was-and where they both were in relation to each other-he let his sleepy eyes roam around the room. It was obviously still nighttime; the only light in the room came from the dim light of the flickering fireplace. He had the curtains shut, and they pretty effectively blocked out the light, but still, there was no light visible around the edges, so he knew that it must still be pretty early.

Therefore, it was _not_ time to wake up yet. Not even time to _think_ about waking up yet. So he closed his eyes again, put his hand over her hand that was laying on his chest, and settled back into his blissful dreams.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kate drifted out of her dreamland slowly. Something felt different to her. It was good-relaxing and good-but different. Oh, yeah. She was staying at Castle's house. That would explain it. But then she noticed that her pillow was heated, and that it was moving up and down ever so slightly. Leave it to Castle to get a heated pillow with built-in motion. And it smelled good too. It smelled like...Castle. Hmmm...just like it had when she'd fallen asleep on him the previous night. At that thought, her eyes flashed open, and when she did, she saw her hand. Under Castle's hand. Laying on...was that his chest? Well, if that was his chest, then that meant that her head must be...that meant the pillow was..._she was laying on Castle_? She looked around as much as she could without lifting her head too much. Oh, Lord, _she was laying on Castle!_

Didn't they go to sleep on opposite sides of the bed last night? She tried to remember the details of what happened right after they crawled under the covers. She remembered talking. And talking and talking. And it was...fun. They laughed. She didn't think she'd ever laid in bed with a man and had talked so much, without doing anything else that normally happens when a man and a woman are in bed together. And with _Castle_? She would never have believed it if she hadn't just experienced it herself. He didn't do anything except hold her hand and laugh with her. And despite what he'd said earlier, he didn't even kiss her goodnight!

Wait...was she _disappointed_ that Castle didn't kiss her goodnight...hell, didn't even _try_ to kiss her goodnight?

All right, that was really a new thought to get used to. Before yesterday, she wouldn't have entertained a serious thought about kissing the man. Now, her serious thoughts involved being miffed about _not_ kissing him. Or him not kissing her. Or something like that. How did that happen?

She felt him move a little bit under her chest, and then she felt the arm that was encircling her leave her back. She was hit with the urge to grab it and put it back around her. But she didn't have to worry, because she figured out from the sound that Castle was just stretching, so after he stretched, he did indeed put his arm back around her, tightening it a little bit from how it had been before the stretch. Then, in what must be a sleepy-Castle morning voice, he muttered, "Are you 'wake?"

Well, if he knew she was awake, she was busted. It was obvious that she was laying on him. And it wasn't like she could just quietly move over to the far side of the bed anymore when he was obviously awake. So she rose up a little bit and with a certain amount of embarrassment, looked at his face. When she saw him, it took her somewhat by surprise; he looked adorably sleepy and rumpled in his newly-awakened state.

"I'm...sorry. I didn't mean to sleep on you. I guess I just gravitated toward the closest heat source when I was asleep." She tried to prop herself up so she could scoot back to the other side of the bed, but he stopped her by putting his arm around her again and pulling her against him once more.

"No...don't move. Stay here. It's not a problem at all. It's nice."

"Are you sure?"

"Thoroughly sure. Anyway, it's a good thing that I was the closest heat source. That wouldn't have been fun for you if you'd tried to snuggle up with the fireplace."

She settled back down into his embrace, laying more on her back with her head on his upper chest, secretly glad that he hadn't let her move away from him, and grateful for his attempts to keep everything light. "That would be pretty toasty," she agreed.

"In a not very good way. Toasted Beckett a la fireplace. Ugh."

"You realize that makes absolutely no sense, right? Anyway, what time is it?"

"I don't really know. Maybe six-thirty or seven? There's some light, but not much yet. But does it matter? It's not like we have anything important that we have to do."

She opened her mouth to protest, to say that of course it mattered, of course they had something to do. But then she realized that they really didn't have anything to do. Nothing at all. And then she remembered her ankle as she stretched her legs a bit, and thought that even if they did have something to do, she couldn't do very much anyway because of her injured ankle.

"I suppose not."

"How does your ankle feel this morning?"

"Not too bad. I can feel it if I try to move it around, but at least it doesn't ache when I'm just laying here."

"That's good." They laid in silence for a minute or two, and as he laid there without her saying anything, Rick got worried. Finally, he summoned up his courage and, trying to keep his voice light, asked her, "What? I can hear you thinking. You aren't thinking of some nice way to dump me before we're even officially together, are you?" He was almost afraid of the response, suddenly worried that she'd started to be skittish or had started overthinking the change in their relationship, or even just started feeling weird or uncomfortable at how they were snuggled together. In a bed.

At his question, he could almost feel her roll her eyes at him. "Geez, Castle, chill." For effect, or maybe just because, she took the hand of the arm that was around her and laced her fingers with his. "Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I'm going dump you. Even though you're right...I can't possibly dump you anyway when I haven't even agreed to the 'continuation' part of this agreement yet. But for your information, even though you're incredibly nosy, I'll tell you that I was just wondering how I'm going to take a shower. And no, Castle-don't say it."

"Say what?" he asked innocently.

"That you'll be more than happy to help me...that you would diligently wash every inch of me, or something else equally as inappropriate and way too forward thinking for right now."

_Right now_? Well, that was good, he thought. At least there was hope for the future; she just admitted that, even though she probably didn't realize it. That was definitely a good sign, and although he felt like jumping up and doing a happy dance, he restrained himself. He even tried not to smile too much, because he was certain that her Beckett-sense would pick up on it. But he did tell her, "No, I wasn't going to say anything of the sort, although I was going to offer to help. Or suggest something that might help. But it's not inappropriate at all. I was just going to suggest that you use my shower, since it's bigger and it has built-in shower seats."

"Seats, as in plural?"

"Yes, seats, as in plural, although I know I don't have to tell you that there's no apostrophe in 'seats' because plural nouns don't use apostrophes," he told her, referring to their grammar discussion over lunch the previous day.

"That sounds like a good plan, as long as the other seat remains empty during the shower."

"Of course. What did you expect? No, wait, don't answer that. I think I know what you expect from me. But I can say that I will enjoy proving you wrong."

"Oh, really?" she asked, smiling.

"Of course. And I think I'm already winning. Didn't I sleep in bed with you the entire night and didn't do anything even remotely in the vicinity of 'ravishing' or 'inappropriate'?"

Begrudgingly (and with a strange tinge of dissappointment), she had to admit he was correct. "No, you haven't done any inappropriate ravishing. But still, I'd like to keep it that way."

For now, he added silently in his head. And that was okay. Because it didn't really matter to him that they were laying in a bed and were doing nothing but cuddling. Because he was laying in a _bed_ and was cuddling with _Kate Beckett_. Because he knew that Kate was different than the normal arm candy that accompanied him to various events, and to whom he then returned the favor by accompanying them back to their beds. Kate was so different than anyone in that endless stream of women. Just the fact that they could peacefully (or sometimes peacefully) coexist here now, and work together for so long, with virtually nothing inappropriate happening except for a few bone-melting kisses, and those only of late; well, that was a testament that there was the potential of something more...real...in the future. It wasn't all about physical attraction between them, although there was plenty of that.

"Hey, Castle? You still with me?" she asked, wondering about his prolongued silence.

"Sure."

"Although I don't really want to get out of this bed-and don't read anything into that comment; it's just warm in here-I really need to make a trip to the bathroom. Would you be willing to be my crutch?"

"Of course. Anything. I could carry you too."

"And send your mind and hands into full red alert about the status of my panty situation, or potential lack thereof? I don't think so. You can just be a crutch and I can hop."

Ten minutes later, she had used the bathroom, once again very grateful for his foresight with the chair, and had even brushed her teeth and splashed some water on her face. Her hair didn't look too bad from what she could see in the still semi-darkened bathroom, and she couldn't take a shower yet anyway, so there was no point in worrying about it now anyway. And besides, worrying about her hair meant that at least on some level, she was worrying about what Castle thought of her, and she just did not want to admit that she was primping for him.

So they settled back down in the bed together and pretty much naturally assumed their previous positions. The opposite side of the bed restriction that had been talked about the night before had been figuratively kicked to the curb. He'd turned a little more on his side, toward her, so when she settled against him, he wrapped his opposite arm around her too, in an embrace. She was a little surprised and her first, initial gut reaction was to pull back, but she squashed that down and then she realized that it felt warm and inviting and oh, so nice, and she settled in and began to relax. He rested his head against hers, and they laid there in companionable silence for several minutes. She felt content. Peaceful. And despite how her ankle felt, she really wished she could just hold onto this feeling.

Finally, he said softly, "I checked my phone when you were in the bathroom. It's only a little after 7:00. And it's still snowing outside, although the wind looks like it's dying down a little bit."

His voice, though low, vibrated against her and she had to fight off a smile and a shiver. Leave it to the man to be sexy when he wasn't even trying. "How much snow?" she asked, trying to get her thoughts back on an even keel.

"Probably at least a foot. It's hard to tell from all of the blowing and drifting from last night."

She pulled away a little bit then so she could turn her head to face him without banging their heads together. She looked at him and said sincerely, "Thanks, Castle."

"For what?" She almost wanted to laugh because the man looked genuinely perplexed.

"For taking care of me with this ankle thing. And for not pushing or hinting or even whining about...this..." she waved her hand between the two of them, indicating their close proximity and their obvious location. "I have to say that it surprises the hell out of me, but you're a perfect gentleman. So thank you." And she leaned over and gave him a chaste little kiss on the lips.

He smiled at her. "You're very welcome. But I do have to comment...you brushed your teeth!"

"Well, I wasn't going to risk having you make any more 'nasty' comments," she told him, referring to his comment when they were kissing in the front yard the day before.

"Hey, I already explained that the comment came from me getting snow down my back."

"Yes, but then we talked about morning breath right after that, so I figured I should probably do what I could to alleviate that possibility of you ressurecting that word again, with me in close proximity."

"But you'll also recall that I said if I ever had the chance to find out about your morning breath, I wouldn't waste time talking about it."

"Yet you are." Her statement, though softly spoken, was bold, and it held a very direct challenge. And it was a challenge that was in direct opposition to what she had just thanked him for.

"I suppose I am." He just looked at her, not daring to take her up on her challenge yet, until he could see if she was really, truly inviting him to kiss her while they snuggled in a bed together.

"A lot," she countered.

"You always tell me I talk a lot."

"Yes, and I also tell you that you talk too much. Like now."

She was giving him green light after green light, and he knew that this conversation would end with them kissing. But right now, this was 'them'. The bantering, the innuendo, the back-and-forth. There was a comfort in that, that they still had that between them, and now, it seemed, more. And they always had fun with the bantering, as he was having fun with it now.

"You think I'm talking too much now?" he asked her with a gleam in his eye.

"If you have to ask that, Castle, then you probably know the answer."

"But you know me...I get bored. So if I can't talk, then what could I do?"

"I think you know the answer to that too," she told him, with a returning gleam in her own eyes. Then she punctuated her response by licking her lips as her gaze dropped to his lips briefly.

He moved infinitesimally closer to her. "So do you think you could help me find some other activity for my mouth, since I can't use it for talking anymore?"

Her voice now came out in a whisper. "I think that helping you with that would be the least I could do to thank you for all the help you've given me lately." And immediately after the last word she spoke, their mouths, which had been moving closer without them realizing it, much as their bodies had behaved last night in the bed, touched against each others in the form of the lightest kiss. They both moved back, and looked into each others eyes. What they saw there was another green light for both of them. And not only was it green, but it was bright and flashing 'Go for it! Go for it!'

So they did, but gently. It was almost like a first kiss all over again. Their pairs of eyes drifted shut as their lips drifted those last few millimeters together and then touched. They kissed softly, little kisses of just lips touching lips. It was the way adolescents kissed when they were just learning. The two of them weren't adolescents, and they had already experienced far more heated kisses between them the previous day. But these were different; more chaste, yet somehow more intimate, and definitely more sweet. And even with little kisses like this, Kate still thought that the man had a masterful mouth, and at that moment, she couldn't remember why she had ever fought becoming involved with him on this level. She felt so wonderful, so cared for now, that she wanted to bottle the feelings running through her. Rick, in his mind, simply thought he must be in heaven, to be laying in a cozy bed with Kate and to be able to sweetly kiss her. And have her kiss him back. Yes, definitely heaven.

And Rick and Kate, in their own ways, were really beginning to like blizzards, power outages, and even sprained ankles. Because without all of those things, they wouldn't be right here, right now, doing what they were doing, and feeling what they were feeling.

_**

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That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed it! Thoughts?**_

_**As I was writing the ending to this chapter, I was thinking that it sounded a lot like and ENDING. Like, as in an end to the whole story. I didn't really intend to end it here, but I know sometimes less is more (not to quote Natalie Rhodes or anything), so if anyone thinks that it would be better to just end it here rather than go on, let me know.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**The vast majority of people voted that I should go on, so I decided to do just that. Hope you like it. :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, but I greatly respect and admire the people that did create them and bring them to life for us (almost) every week.**_

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The sweet little kisses slowed down, not that they were ever feverishly fast or involved or anything, but it truly wasn't what Kate was expecting at all. In fact, she was a little surprised. She would have thought-and frankly kind of expected-things to get a little more intense, not cool off. And if the truth be told, she was a little disappointed when they ended. She opened her eyes when she felt the last kiss, when she felt Rick pull away from her. She saw him with his eyes closed, his face turned up toward the ceiling. "Okay, what's wrong?"

He was laying there in his bed, trying to restore some sort of equilibrium to his brain. And to other parts of him. Who would've thought that such simple little kisses could pack such a punch? And he was enjoying those kisses immensely, but the combination of those punch-packing kisses with his horizontal position in a very snuggly bed, and the fact that his co-snuggler was none other than the very tantalizing Kate Beckett made his body do some things that generally happened with more intense activity. So in the interest of honoring their agreement as much as possible, he pulled away, even though it was the last thing is other brain wanted to do at the time. And at her question, he took a deep breath and tried to sound casual, but failed. "Not a thing. Why would anything be wrong?"

"Because you finally kissed me, and we're laying in a bed, and _you_ pulled away. There's something wrong with that picture."

He sighed. "Beckett." He took another deep breath. "Do you remember the talk we had about 'ravishing' and 'inappropriate'? Let's just say that those two words are very close to becoming truth and not supposition. I'm trying to be a gentleman here."

Lightbulb moment for Kate. "Ah," she said. Then she was puzzled. "Castle, you slept the entire night with me. I woke up practically on top of you-"

"Kate, you're not helping matters when you talk like that."

"Oh, sorry. Okay, we were, uh, closer earlier, and we had a lot more...ummm...involved kisses yesterday. So..."

"Why this reaction now?"

"Yeah."

"Take your picture that you just painted and think about the first two items you said." As he said it, her mind remembered 'kiss' and 'laying in a bed'. Ah. "That's new territory for us. The combination of those items. And I kind of, uh, responded to that."

"And you pulled away."

"I remembered your conditions. We couldn't really help the 'two beds' part with your ankle and the weather and the electricity, but if we'd gone on any longer, I would have totally violated the 'no funny business' rule and most likely, the 'clothes stay on' rule would have been toast too."

He remembered her conditions for them trying to forge a relationship, to see if anything could go beyond this weekend. _Really_ remembered them. And he seemed to be trying to comply to them. To say that she was surprised was putting it mildly. "Castle, I don't even know that _I_ remembered my own conditions when we were...occupied." She didn't want to say 'kissing'. "So to think that you remembered them, and you pulled away...Castle, that was really sweet." And committed, she thought. He was seemingly pretty committed to his goal of convincing her to continue...this _thing_ they were trying...after this weekend, even to the point of sacrificing what he wanted to do in the short term. She was touched. She was beyond touched.

"So really, it was nothing against you at all. And your morning breath is just fine. Really fine." He groaned. "But I just have to stop thinking about it now, okay?"

She sat up in the bed and searched her brain for something to say that wasn't the innuendo that frequently popped out as part of their normal bantering. "Umm...you could go get me a bag of snow for my ankle."

His eyes opened and his worried gaze shot over to her as soon as he registered the words. He sat up too, and looked toward her ankle even though he couldn't see anything because it was still covered. "Why? Is your ankle hurting again?"

"No, it's no worse than it was. I just thought that it's something else to do, and since you have to go outside, it would be kind of like a cold shower."

"I suppose icing it again wouldn't hurt..." he surmised.

"And you could also check on your mother on the way downstairs."

He shot her a wry look. "Beckett. The talk about the ice and snow was working just fine at distracting me. Did you have to go and mention my mother?"

"She's sick. You should really check on her." Her voice held a note of sympathy.

"Do you know what the woman _looks like _in the morning? And when she's sick..." He gave a little shudder. "I do _not _want to go in there."

"Rick, come on. You really..." she broke off at the shocked look on his face. "What?"

The shock gave way to a slight smile. "You called me 'Rick'."

She thought about it, realized she did, and then shrugged. "I guess I did. So what?"

"You never call me that."

She just shrugged again. "It's your name, after all. Not a big deal."

"But you never, and I mean _never_ call me by my first name. Well, you did once or twice with the Tisdale case, but that was it." He was still smiling at her, but the size of the smile had increased. If she had to put a word on his mood, she would almost have to say 'giddy'.

She was starting to get just a bit self-conscious over his obvious delight at what she'd offhandedly said. "Really, it just slipped out." She tried for nonchalance in her tone but he didn't seem to care.

"You always call me 'Castle'. But the use of a first name is often perceived to imply familiarity. It's why students don't call their teachers by their first names. But when you just use someone's last name with no salutation like 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.', it's more abrupt, businesslike. So I can understand why you always call me by just my last name when we work on cases together. I do the same when I call you 'Beckett'. But you just called me 'Rick'. Without even thinking about it." He still had that giddy grin on his face.

"Thank you for the lesson. But I repeat, so what?"

"You're getting more familiar with meeeee." He said the words in an almost sing-songy voice.

"I thought we determined that already." She raised an eyebrow at him. "And that, uh, familiarity is the reason why you needed to go outside and cool off."

"Well, there's that kind of familiarity, and believe me, I did-do-like that kind. Really. A lot. Make no mistake about that." He nodded and smiled brightly. "But then there's that kind of unconscious familiarity like you calling me by my first name without even realizing it. And on a different level, I like that kind just as much."

She looked up at the ceiling and tried to put a pensive look on her face. She could have some fun with this. Then she looked back at him. "So, _Rick,_ you're saying that you equate me calling you by your first name with me kissing you?" she asked him, speaking slowly and enunciating each word, but purposely misunderstanding him. She punctuated her statement by licking her lips tantalizingly. "So if I were to happen to call you..._Rick_...back at the precinct, would that be like _kissing_ you at the precinct?"

The look on his face changed...gone was the smiling, giddy man of a few seconds ago. And he just looked so befuddled at her change in demeanor, along with looking adorably rumpled with a dose of early-morning sexy thrown in, that she couldn't resist doing what she did next. She leaned forward as she reached out and trailed her finger lightly from his stubbled jawline, down his neck, and into the top of his t-shirt, where she hooked her finger and pulled him ever-so-slightly toward her. "So... _Rick..._what do you think we should do this morning?" With her lean and her tug on his shirt, it brought their faces just inches apart as she spoke, so he could feel her breath on his lips as she spoke. And thoughts involving the words 'ravishing' and 'inappropriate' were starting to flood his mind again. And other parts of him too.

So he did the only thing he felt that he could do to save face. He jumped out of bed and practically ran to his closet, where he knew he had a pair of slippers. "I think it's a really good time to get some snow for your ankle," he said as he slipped his feet into the slippers. "And I might just try making a snow angel too." He headed toward the door to the bedroom.

"In a blizzard?" Kate managed to ask, a note of surprise in her voice at the seriousness of his statement before he was totally gone.

At her question, he turned around and looked at her. As he saw that sexy goddess of a woman, sitting there in _his_ bed, looking all rumpled from sleep, he bit off an oath and turned his gaze to the ceiling for a moment. Then he looked back at her and said with raised eyebrows, "I think making a snow angel is a Really. Good. Idea. right now. And do me a favor, Kate...don't _ever_ say my first name like that in public, or it will _not_ be pretty."

And then he dashed out of the room.

She flopped back on the soft pillows with a smile on her face. The poor guy...she knew she had some effect on him, but she didn't know it would be quite that much. Despite all of the innuendo, bantering and flirting that had gone on between them, the electricity that flowed between them now when they kissed still took her by surprise. But it was probably a good idea that he didn't know the effect that everything had on her also, because otherwise the two of them would likely say the hell with her conditions and would be burning up the sheets before lunchtime. Probably more than once. She took a deep breath...she had to stop thinking like this. She just hoped Rick got back with that bag of snow soon. And she hoped he would bring a few more bags, because right now, her ankle wasn't the only thing that needed something cold.

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_**First, a note about the use of the first name. I know she called him 'Rick' in Knockdown. But in this little AU that I have going on, Knockdown can't have happened or we wouldn't be having as much (vicarious) fun with all of this (seemingly first-time) lip-locking that they're doing. So if that didn't happen, then she really only called him 'Rick' in the first show.**_

_**This chapter isn't as long as some, but I hope you still enjoyed reading it. Let me know! **_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Following is the next chapter in the continuing saga of what happens to a writer and a police detective when trapped together during a blizzard, with a power outage, one sprained ankle, and a lot of unresolved sexual tension. **_

_**The standard disclaimers apply.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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After Rick was gone, she laid back in the bed for a while and just let her mind run wild. Aside from the sprained ankle, she was actually having a pretty good time. It sounded weird. It was weird. It was not 'her' at all. She was independent. Scratch that...she used to be independent. Now she was forced to rely on someone else just to get to the freaking bathroom. That was a sad state of affairs for anyone to be in, especially her, Miss Independent-don't-rely-on-anyone. So why wasn't she more...angry?

She didn't want to think it, but she acknowledged that it could have just a tiny bit to do with Castle. Just a little bit. He did have this really nice house, and she wasn't freezing to death. Of course, that thought, coupled with the fact that she was currently laying in _his_ bed, made her thoughts drift to how she had spent the night in _his_ bed, cuddled up to _him._ Cuddled up to Castle. _Castle_! And it was nice. Really nice. She'd never before allowed herself to think in terms of cuddling up to Castle, but now that she had done just that, she couldn't seem to think of anything _but_ that. And then he hadn't even tried anything. Nothing! She'd practically had to trick him into kissing her, and that wasn't even until this morning!

And he was being so nice to her...carrying her places, getting her ice, making a splint for her, making sure she was comfortable. He could have really been a jerk, he could have really made her feel stupid for spraining her ankle-Lord knew, _she_ felt stupid for doing it-but he didn't. He was being really sweet about everything.

Okay, she acknowledged somewhat reluctantly, maybe her lack of anger over her situation had more than a little bit to with her host. He was doing his best to help her make the best of her situation, partially because he felt responsible, but partially because she was beginning to see that that was just the way he was...if he could help someone, he would. She knew that he made things fun. She'd never thought of working a snowblower as being fun before-not that she'd ever actually done it before-but with Castle, it had certainly been interesting. Never a dull moment with that man, that was for sure. And chocolate chip cookies...chocolate chip cookies had never before been as fascinating to make, nor had the experience ever been quite that...hot. Between the mini-interlude on the slippery floor or when she planted a 'big one' on Castle a short time later, it was not like any experience she'd ever had involving something as seemingly mundane as baking cookies. And now she was seeing another dimension to him...she was seeing his caring side. She'd seen glimpses of it from time to time with regards to his daughter, and she'd always thought it was sweet. But now she had the chance to experience it firsthand, as the recipient of that caring. And darned if it didn't want to make her grin like a giddy schoolgirl, just a little bit.

Now that this was the way things were turning out, maybe this was a chance to see if they had more in common than just on a crime-solving front. She knew she promised to give him a chance this weekend, a small part of her never thinking that he would last the weekend without doing something totally stupid or...or...playboyish. And when he did, she would have her out. She could keep him as her partner at work, because he was certainly useful, but she wouldn't have to let him into her personal life, where he could hurt her. But once again, he was proving her wrong with his caring, with his concern. And she was liking it. And she was liking _him._ Imagine that. She closed her eyes and burrowed back into the comfy pillows a little more with a smile on her face as she waited for him to finish making snow angels.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rick went downstairs slowly in the sparse morning light; the stairway was still pretty dark and he didn't want to risk injuring himself. When he got to the main floor, he could see through the large windows that the storm was still in full swing, with the snow blowing and drifting. He knew they "wouldn't get crews out to do anything about the power outage while the storm was still going on, so he thought about the possibilities with the options that he had.

Of primary importance, of course, was taking care of Kate's ankle. She hadn't had any ice-or snow-on it in several hours, so that was numero uno on his list. First he went to the utility closet and got a cooler. Then he steeled himself before going outside and filling several reclosable bags with snow, and then filled the cooler too. By the time he was done filling everything up, the effect was better than any cold shower could have possibly been. When he was done with all of that, he left the cooler and the bags outside temporarily to begin on the next items on his agenda.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kate felt some soft, cool lips flutter over hers in a little kiss. A voice softly called her name, and then she felt the lips again. She opened her eyes to find beautiful blue eyes staring down at her, with a little smile on the lips that had just kissed hers. "Time to wake up, sleeping beauty," Rick said to her.

She stretched her arms up outside of the blanket and around his neck. "Oh...hiiiiiiii..." she said sleepily as she pulled him back down to her for another kiss, this one decidedly less chaste than the couple of pecks he had given her. Though he was tempted, he didn't let the kiss didn't last too long because he had other things on the agenda for right now. He broke away gently, telling her, "Sit up, sleepyhead. I brought breakfast. And it's even hot." And he raised up off the bed and went over to the table where he'd set the tray.

"Like you are?" she asked him sleepily, with a relaxed, lusty tone in her voice.

His head whipped around and he looked at her in shock. _Did Beckett just say that?_ "Wha...what?"

As she sat up, she sort of looked around as if she was taking stock of her surroundings. She seemed like she was coming fully awake now. He could tell the moment when she fully realized what she said. Her eyes flew to his. "Oh...shit, did I just say that? Out loud? I was...I wasn't awake all the way."

He gave her a wry grin. "Hot, huh? Well, it's good that at least you admit it when you're asleep."

"Castle...I..." she began, and then stopped, not knowing how to 'd finally realized that she'd fallen asleep and and had obviously been a little bit...forward when she'd woken up. She could feel a bit of heat rising to her cheeks as she remembered the words that had escaped her mouth.

He instantly decided the best way to proceed was to actually proceed, and to not even address it anymore. He'd just file it away for future remembrance (and a brief bit of gloating). "I have scrambled eggs with bacon, along with bananas if you want one, and some orange juice to drink. Sorry I don't have coffee, but the coffee maker is electric."

"You brought me breakfast?" she asked, pleasantly surprised, and touched.

"I brought _us_ breakfast. Sorry it took so long."

She looked at him for a pregnant moment, eternally grateful that he wasn't going to push her anymore about her sleepy comment. She didn't expect him to bring breakfast back, especially a hot breakfast. There was that thoughtfulness again. How sweet was this guy? And it smelled wonderful! "Eggs? And bacon? How did you cook eggs and bacon?"

"The grill on the three-season porch. Got everything mixed up and then just put the frying pan on top of the grill."

"You cooked _bacon_ too? How did you have time to cook bacon? How long was I asleep?"

"Not long, don't worry. The bacon was the precooked stuff that I'd just gotten for sandwiches or whatever. But it came in handy for the eggs so I used it." He handed her a plate. When she took the plate, her hand touched his and she almost shrank back at the touch.

"Oh, my gosh! You're freezing!" she exclaimed. "Please tell me you didn't really make snow angels," she asked, remembering their conversation from earlier.

"Yeah, I feel freezing. No snow angels. The three season porch in thin pajama bottoms and a t-shirt was enough for me. Take your plate so I can crawl under the blankets. Take mine too," he told her, shoving both plates at her.

She took them and he scurried back to the tray, which held two glasses of orange juice that he put on the nightstand next to him. Then he crawled back under the covers and took her plate from her. His foot inadvertently touched her leg when he slid under the covers, and she yelped a bit at the frigid touch. "Oh, my gosh! You _are_ freezing!"

"Let me eat my eggs and then you can warm me up."

She was about to take a bite of her eggs, but she stopped with her fork midway to her mouth and shot him a sideways glare instead.

"What?" he said innocently. "I never said anything bad! Your mind, Detective Beckett, sometimes I swear!" He shook his head and made a 'tsk tsk' motion. "All I meant was that we could cuddle a little bit, like we were doing _all night_ when _nothing_ happened."

She shot him another quick sideways look that spoke volumes about her feelings on his claims of innocence, and then resumed putting the forkful of eggs in her mouth. Like she had the previous morning, once she tasted the eggs, she looked at him with appreciation. After she swallowed, she said "That's really good! Castle, you are like a breakfast cooking god!" She quickly ate another couple of forkfuls before a thought occurred to her. "Hey, what about your mother? Should I save some of this for her or something?"

"Don't worry, I faced my personal demons and I braved going into her room to drop off a plate for her before I came in here. I was tempted to just leave it there, but I actually-" he shuddered-" woke her up and told her it was there. I left her some orange juice too, and made sure her fire was okay, which it was. She didn't seem too bad, considering it was the morning and you never-and I mean _never_-want to see my mother first thing in the moring. It's just plain scary. But you'll be happy to know that I even dropped off some ibuprofen and another bottle of water for later."

"That's sweet, Rick," she told him, patting him on his blanket-covered knee, not addressing the comments about his mother because she knew that it was really just his own dramatic flair. "I'm sure she appreciates you taking care of her." Then she paused, as if she didn't know how to continue. "And...I do too. Thanks." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, and then turned to her plate and speedily took a bite of eggs again.

Rick was softened by the gentle tone in her voice, but that wasn't even the biggest thing. She'd called him by his first name again, and she didn't even seem to realize that she'd done it. Inside, he felt like doing a happy dance. Outside, he tried not to do anything, lest he ruin the moment, or lest she try to do what she did earlier when she tried to say his name like..._that._ Seductively. He just wished that both of the recent times she'd unconsciously used his first name, it didn't have to do with his mother. Blech.

"Can you hand me the orange juice?" she asked, interrupting his reverie about the use of his first name. He complied, and then took a drink from his own glass before setting them both back down again. They continued to eat their eggs in silence, until both plates were empty. He took them and ran them over to the tray, and then hopped back into the bed.

She was looking at him quizzically as he settled himself. Then he offhandedly pushed her shoulder so she was once again laying down against the fluffy pillows. After she was semi-horizontal, he pulled the multitude of blankets over them both and laid down right next to her. He turned a little bit on his side and put his opposite arm around her midsection and rested his face against the side of her head, effectively snuggling himself around her. "There. That feels much better. It's nice and warm here."

His breath tickled her neck as he spoke, and she resisted the urge to giggle. Instead, she just said, "Well, after that breakfast, I suppose it's the least I can do to let you warm up a little bit next to me."

"Glad you liked it. I like this."

She did too, although she didn't voice it out loud. They didn't talk anymore, and just enjoyed cuddling together in the one little area of the big bed. And sure enough, pretty soon the lack of sleep the night before, combined with the satisfaction of a full belly, a warm bed and most importantly, the contentment derived from having someone to snuggle with, made them both drift off into dreamland again for a little mid-morning nap.

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_**We didn't move very far in terms of time, but I hope everyone enjoyed it anyway. A lot of you have said that you like all of the little details in my stories, and that's just how this chapter seemed to unfold, so I was hoping that would be okay.**_

_**And before anyone reminds me, yes I know he forgot to put the snow on her ankle before they fell asleep. That will be addressed in the next chapter. **_

_**Let me know what you think. Please? Pretty please? I love to read everyone's comments. I get such a little mini-high when I see review alerts in my email inbox.**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Hello again! It's been quite a while since the last chapter, I know. I published 3 chapters of two of my other stories since then, so if you're not following those, sorry for the wait for this one. It seemed like more people were clamoring for updates on those more than for this one, so I decided to work on those two first. Then, I got sick and we were out of town, so I didn't feel like doing anything except being blah. Still not 100%, but it's nice to just sit in a chair and veg and write this.**_

_**Hope you enjoy it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these wonderful characters. Nor the house (darn).**_

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Rick awoke slowly to a little vibration under his arm as the body that was his arm was around groaned in her sleep. He opened his eyes and took a second to orient himself. He knew his arm was around Kate, but why was she groaning? Was she having a nightmare? He raised up a little bit and looked at her face. It was relaxed now, but then as he kept watching, she shifted a little bit and her face contorted into somewhat of a grimace as she groaned again. He didn't like seeing her like this, so if she was having a nightmare, he didn't want it to go on any longer; he wanted to help her if he could. So he moved his arm to her shoulder, and gently tried to shake her awake.

He called her name as he rubbed her shoulder. Her face contorted again, then relaxed, and then her eyes blinked open. She looked at the face right above her, gazing at her intently, questioning the look on his face. "What?" she asked sleepily.

"You...I think you were having a nightmare. Are you okay?"

She thought back, trying to remember what she was dreaming about, if she was even dreaming about anything. She recalled nothing. "No...I mean yes, I'm fine. How long did we sleep?" Her voice still held the lazy grogginess from having just woken up. He smiled at the fact that she didn't seem at all surprised to have him there, so close when she woke up, and also that the 'we' had just seemed to roll off her tongue without her thinking about it.

He glanced at the clock. "Almost two hours."

"Well, we should probably think about getting up then-Oh, damn!" She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes all of a sudden, cutting off her thought and her words with the expletive.

Rick looked at her, and then realization dawned in his brain. "Oh, my God! Kate, it's your ankle, isn't it?"

She nodded, without saying anything. He could tell that the lack of verbal response was her trying to get her mind over the pain that she was feeling.

Then he remembered, and he felt horrible. Lower than low. "Oh, my God, I forgot to give you the ice for your foot! How could I have been so stupid?"

Through gritted teeth, she said "Castle, just get me some ice for the damn thing now and then get me some ibuprofen or something. It's really throbbing. I don't know if I slept on it wrong or what, but it hurts."

For her to even admit that it hurt, and that it was throbbing, he knew that the ankle must really be giving her some pain. He gently extricated himself from the blankets and got out of the bed, where he went to the cooler that he'd brought into the room earlier when he'd brought breakfast. He'd brought the cooler up first, and he was going to ice her ankle but then he found her dozing. She looked so adorable and he didn't want to disturb her, so he decided to just let her sleep. Then he got the bright idea to make breakfast. They had to eat anyway, right? So he went back downstairs, whipped up his breakfast, and brought everything back upstairs, with a quick stop in his mother's room to drop her breakfast off. Then he'd gone into his room and had woken Kate up, and they'd eaten...

And he'd totally forgotten about the ice.

Damn! And then not only had he forgotten about the ice, right then, but he'd exacerbated the problem by snuggling them both in for a nap, effectively delaying it for another couple of hours. Now, he had an intense feeling of dread in his stomach at what her ankle must look like, what it must feel like. He didn't want to see it.

But he took the bag full of snow, which was still pretty frozen, thanks to the cooler, and went over to the side of the bed. She'd already taken her leg out of the blankets and laid it on the top of the bed, and his breath caught when he saw the swollen, purplish limb. It couldn't really be called an ankle because she didn't _have_ a visible ankle anymore. He handed her the bag of ice so she could place it on her foot; he'd done enough damage already and he didn't want to cause her any more pain. After handing off the ice, he scurried into the bathroom to get the ibuprofen tablets she'd requested.

She set the bag of snow on top of her ankle, steeling herself for how cold she knew it would feel on her swollen, warm skin. Still, she wasn't fully prepared for the shock of it and drew in a quick breath, but then after a few seconds, the cold started to feel good.

He returned from the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bed while she took the tablets and then laid back on the pillow with her eyes closed. "Kate," he began in a low, tense voice, "I'm so sorry. I...oh, God. It must hurt so much. And all I could think about was myself..." He ran his hands through his hair in a gesture to emphasize his regret and helplessness now.

He stopped when she sighed. "Castle, I certainly have the time but I don't have the inclination to listen to you whining about whatever it is you're whining about." She opened her eyes and really looked at his face, which was a mask of stony-faced concern with not a hint of humor in it. "Geez, Castle...what are you talking about? Do you think you're to blame for my ankle turning purple or something?"

"If I hadn't forgotten the snow..."

"You didn't forget the snow. It's right there. What's it doing there, anyway? I remember you bringing breakfast, but I don't remember you carrying that cooler in."

"I brought it in before I made breakfast, and you were dozing, so I left it there and made breakfast and then I forgot all about it. God, Kate...honey, I'm so sorry."

She looked at him quizzically for the 'honey' comment, very unaccustomed to hearing words like that coming out of his mouth, at least when they were directed at her. But she made herself get back to the point. "So you let me sleep more, and then you froze your butt off while you made me a hot breakfast despite a power outage in a room that has to be...what? Fifty degrees, tops? And now you're apologizing for that? Oh, Castle, give me a break."

"But your ankle-"

"Is _my_ ankle!" she all but shouted at him as she sat up on the bed again. "_I_ am the one who was stupid and sprained it in the first place, and this morning, I didn't remember to ice it any better than you did. You had everything here for me to ice it. I didn't remember. So will you just shut _up_?"

The look on his face was still one that showed great remorse. "Kate..."

"Castle, I mean it. If you say one more word to blame yourself, I'm going to pull on your ear so much that you're going to look like freaking Dumbo on one side of your head."

He leaned closer to her, so his ear was well within his reach. "Go ahead," he said, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth like he was steeling himself for something wildly unpleasant. "I talked, so now you have to inflict some pain on me. I know, I deserve it. Misery loves company, so maybe inflicting pain on me will make your ankle hurt less."

She just stared at him, dumbfounded that he was inviting her to hurt him. Her ankle hurt like a son of a gun, but it wasn't his fault. He was doing his best to take care of her. Oh, she wished he would just shut up with the self-flagellation. Right now she wished that he would spin her one of his wild stories, or do something-anything-besides focus on her ankle, because him focussing on it make her focus on it, and that made it hurt more. She needed to take her mind off of her ankle. And then, looking at him leaning toward her with a weirdly cute look on his face as he prepared for an onslaught of Beckett-abuse, she suddenly realized that surprising the heck out of Mr. Castle would be a perfect-and very pleasant-diversion from the pain of her ankle.

She grabbed his ear, like he requested, giving it a little squeeze. Even though he was supposedly expecting it, he grimaced a bit and inhaled sharply for what he only imagined would be an increase in the force on his ear. But then the joke was on him when he registered not more pain on his ear, but another hand threading through the hair at the back of his head followed very shortly by soft lips pressing onto his.

Beckett's ankle was swollen and purple and painful and she decided to kiss him?

He pulled away, although reluctantly. "As much as I might like that...Kate, your ankle-"

"How many times have I told you to shut up about my ankle? And right now, the more you talk about my ankle hurting, the more it _does_ hurt! Is that what you want?" She didn't really wait for an answer. "So how about you just do something to take my mind off of it? Can you do that?" And once again, she didn't wait for an answer, but just took her hand that was still threaded through his hair and pulled his face to hers again.

Yeah, he thought, he could do that.

Their lips just stayed pressed to each others for several seconds, and then she began to work her lips over his, peppering his lips with small kisses. He didn't respond right away, just held himself in check, but when she touched her tongue to his lips ever so gently, he was lost. He wrapped one arm around her back and pulled her close to him as the kiss deepened. Unconsciously, she leaned back into the pillows, pulling him with her, and he had no choice but to follow. It was a lot like the first kiss in the snow, where he was above her, but this one was in a _bed_. That alone made the kiss seem more exciting, more dangerous. Their lips melded together this way and that, and their tongues darted out now and then to sneak a tantalizing taste of the other's mouth. It was nothing compared to the kisses from earlier, which also happened in this same bed, but were more of a slow burn. This kiss was explosive heat right from the start.

At that thought, he broke away, breathing heavily. "That's it!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

Breathing equally as hard, she said, "What's what?"

"The next Nikki Heat book...I'm going to call it '_Explosive Heat'_!"

"Explosive Heat?" she parrotted, not knowing what else to say after he'd so suddenly broken their kiss.

"Yeah! It's great! I could do a plot about a serial bomber or something like that. And then I could have..."

He trailed off as she looked at him and raised her eyebrow. "You're kissing me and thinking of book titles? Even you have to admit that it's not exactly flattering."

"No!" He looked a little chagrinned as his mind came back to where it was before it had flown off into the world of book titles and plot twists. "I just...uh...well, we...it just popped into my head! I was thinking about how you just grabbed me and...wham! I mean...wow! And the kiss was..."

"Hot?" she offered.

"Yeah. And we started, and then it just kind of...uh..."

"Exploded?" she supplied in a blase tone.

He grinned down at her. "Exactly. See? You do understand. And I've always said you were my inspiration," he added with a wink.

She rolled her eyes at him. Then the seriousness returned to her face, and the smile dropped from his as they both realized their positions once more. And their lips found each others again as if by magnetic force. As they kissed, Rick stretched out on the bed, laying mostly on top of Kate. She took her hands and ran them over his back once, but then, frustrated by the t-shirt he wore, found the bottom of it and lifted it up so she could run her hands over his bare back. She kneaded his muscles all over his back as their mouths worked together in a harmonious assault.

The touch of her hands on his bare skin was intoxicating to him. And he wanted to feel her too. He moved his one arm from where it was still underneath her, and took both of his hands and ran them up her sides under her pajama top. Her skin was so soft! He could feel her sharp intake of breath when he touched her bare skin, and she seemed to pull him closer with her own hands when she felt his hands on her. He deepened the kiss, using his tongue expertly to tease hers, before he teased her in a different way by pulling back a bit, catching her lip lightly in between his teeth before he covered her lips fully again. He wanted desperately to feel more of her with those hands that were molding her bare sides, but at the same time, he wanted to savor every moment, every touch, every kiss. So even when one part of him would have made short order of removing her top, that other part of him just concentrated on reveling in the sensations he was feeling.

They were startled away from each other by a loud voice in the room, one that made Rick break his head away from the kiss abruptly with a wild look on his face. "What?" he said as he looked around, and then he came back to reality as he realized that the voice was his custom ring tone indicating that Alexis was calling him. He sprang to the other side of the bed and grabbed his phone, answering it as he collapsed on the pillows.

"Hi, Pumpkin. What's up?" he answered, hoping that he sounded reasonably normal.

Kate watched him answer the phone, and then closed her eyes in a long blink. Oh, that was close. She was so close to losing her mind, her control. How could he do that to her, with really just a kiss? She'd wanted a diversion, and by God, she'd gotten one. She didn't even know if she had pain in her ankle anymore. She may not even have an ankle anymore. She was now vaguely aware of him talking to Alexis, but she wasn't really concentrating on what they were saying. She was trying to figure out her response to him; how he could turn her to mush and banish all rational thought from her brain with just a kiss. She wanted to know why she was in such danger of violating her 'no funny business' rule, and why she all of a sudden felt like violating it quickly, freely and quite happily. And the worst part was that she was figuring nothing out, and was getting no answers.

She realized that he wasn't talking anymore, and she turned her head to look at him, to find him looking at her. "How's Alexis doing?"

"Fine. She just wanted to tell me that they're all fine and warm and that Julia's parents said it's perfectly fine for everyone to stay another night, or however long it takes for everything to get dug out."

"So she won't be back until tomorrow?" Did he detect a hint of worry in her tone?

"No, it doesn't look like it. And she sounds like she's having a good time with her friends. They're up to the eight to ten-year-old age group for the games they're playing." He took note of the look on her face. "Are you upset about that?" he asked cautiously. "The fact that Alexis won't be back, I mean; not about the games."

"No, not exactly..." she said, her words trailing off, although it was clear that there was much more that she hadn't said.

He stared at her intently. "Kate, tell me." He didn't bother to clarify exactly what she should tell him, because he knew that she knew what he was talking about.

She sighed. "Castle, can I be honest with you?"

"Please do."

"I don't get it. And it bugs me and I don't like it. I don't like not getting it."

"What are you talking about?"

"We've worked together for how long? Yet all of a sudden, I can't keep my hands off of you."

"Do you _want_ to keep your hands off of me? Because believe me, if you _don't_ want to keep your hands off of me, I can certainly accommodate that request. I have absolutely no problem with that whatsoever."

She crinkled her brow at him and gave him a rueful look. "As much as this may inflate your ego, I'm sure that you already know from what happened a few minutes ago that the answer is no. Or at least part of the answer is no. But I'm not so sure that's the right answer."

"It felt pretty right a few minutes ago."

How could she argue with that? Because it _did_ feel right to her too. How long had she been waiting to feel that electrifying spark with someone, the one that causes you to lose your sanity and all rational thought? She'd had moments before, of course, but never anything like that kiss. Heck, like most of her kisses with him, which were getting more and more frequent. She tried to continue, to explain. "But all of this is-or was going to be very quickly-in direct violation of _all_ of my rules for this weekend, and as much as I might really want to violate them right this minute, I don't think it would be a good idea, long term. Or even if we want the term to go anywhere past this weekend."

He regarded her for a long moment, before the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. Other people might have missed it, but she knew his expressions, and she knew that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was not something entirely serious. "Detective," he told her, "please know that you should feel free to violate me-or use me to violate your rules-any time you would like." He finished the statement with a raised eyebrow and a sexy smirk on his face.

She answered him by swatting him on the chest.

"But like I've told you, I _do_ want this to go past this weekend, and it _will_ go past this weekend. So I can't promise that I'll keep my hands off you totally, but I will abide by your rules. Well, the remaining two that we haven't already broken, anyway."

She looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Okay, Castle. You're on."

"I just have to add that although I know it'll be tough when you're surrounded by my rugged masculinity all the time, please try to behave yourself, Detective. Because if _you_ break your own rules, I'm not going to be responsible for what happens after that."

She rolled her eyes in response to the 'rugged masculinity' comment, because that type of a comment from him just begged for an eye-roll from her.

"Kate?" he asked then.

"What now?"

"Nothing much. I was just going to ask you how your ankle was." She saw the grin trying to escape from his face, and she was somewhat startled as she remembered how they'd happened to begin their little lip lock-with her asking him for distraction from the pain of her sprained ankle. Well, he'd certainly given her that. And then some. So she responded with the only answer she could possibly give him.

"What ankle?" she asked with a grin of her own.

* * *

_**I thought about going to the next scene but then I scrapped that idea because this seemed like a good place to end this chapter. It's one of the longer ones, so I hope it's well-received after the long-ish break.**_

_**I'd love to hear your thoughts!**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**With the last chapter, this story hit a milestone of 300 followers who have subscribed to the story alerts! Wow! Thank you for following this story! And thank you to all of those who are my consistent reviewers...I appreciate you SO much!**_

_**A few people have mentioned that they feel Castle is becoming a bit too...mushy and wimpy about Beckett's sprained ankle. Two things to say regarding an explanation for that: 1) he hates to see her hurt, and he cares so much about her that he just wants to take away the physical pain for her. She's such a strong person that to see her incapacitated is hard on him. 2) Plot device, people. In the last chapter, I don't feel that it would have been as good of a 'shut up and kiss me' moment if she hadn't gotten mad at him for beating up on himself.**_

_**Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. I just try to give them a few new adventures now and then.**_

* * *

The rest of the morning was spent inside Rick's master suite, but not all of the time was spent in the bed, much to the relief of both of them. That bed was just a little bit too comfortable for Kate, and she wanted to just sink into it and get lost. And a good part of that desire had to do with...desire. Newly discovered desire, for the man who was with her, who was taking care of her. And while she was tempted-sorely tempted-to give in to that desire, she also knew that the timing wasn't the best, with her ankle and with the tiny fact that there hadn't been any semblance of a romantic involvement between them until barely twenty four hours ago. And regardless of the fact that she'd known him for a couple of years already, she still felt like she needed more than twenty four hours of something more than a strictly platonic friendship before she hopped into bed with him. Much as some part of her might want to. And oh, she found that that part of her really wanted to. A lot.

Alexis' call had given her an idea, and she suggested it to Rick for something to do. Well, something that didn't involve them making out. So she hopped over to the chair in the little sitting area on the one side of the room, and Rick set about making the bed. She figured a freshly made bed was much less inviting for the stray lustful thought than a pleasantly rumpled bed.

After the bed was made, Rick disappeared out of the room to get what he needed. But before he left, she reminded him, "Hey, bring back some snacks and drinks, if you could. And don't forget to check on your mother and get something for her."

While he was gone, she hopped over to the bathroom. Rick had been right when he'd insisted on carrying her the night before; with the size of this house, her good leg was going to get tired pretty fast from hopping. Heck, with the size of this room alone, her leg was going to be tired from hopping.

She was grateful for the chair, once again, and then she hopped over to the sink. She tried to do something with her hair, and ended up just pulling it back with a band that she found in her bag that was still in the bathroom. She glanced at her toothbrush and decided to brush her teeth again, telling herself that it had absolutely nothing to do with wanting fresh breath when-uh, if-she ended up making out with-uh, being close to-Rick again.

She finished in the bathroom and hopped back out into the main part of the bedroom. She'd just finished hopping back to the chair when Rick came back into the room, arms laden with a big pile of things. She wasn't sure how he'd opened it in the first place with his arms that full, but once he was inside, he kicked the door shut again with his foot to keep the heat inside the room. He walked over to the nice, neat bed and set everything down to relieve his arms of their load.

"What did you find?" she asked him.

"The Game of Life, Monopoly and Sorry. Plus I have a deck of cards if you're interested in, oh, strip poker or anything..." he added nonchalantly, although the cocky grin and the raised eyebrow belied the nonchalance of the tone.

She met his expression with a raised eyebrow of her own. "I'll pass on the strip poker. It's too cold to strip."

"I could keep you warm..." he told her, waggling his eyebrows.

"Castle," she laughingly warned. The man never quit.

"Fine," he pouted. "But here, I thought you could use this," he told her, handing her a new bag of snow. Then he straightened up as he looked at her. "Hey, you look different. Where did you get the hair doodad?"

"In the bathroom. In my bag."

"You went into the bathroom?"

"Yes. I hopped. And I'm beginning to see what you mean about this house being big. I mean, it's obvious at first glance, but it's _really_ obvious when you have to do the one-legged bunny rabbit to get around. The muscles in my good leg are going to be pretty awesome by the time this is healed."

"I wish you would have waited for me so I could have helped you." He sounded a little dejected.

"Castle, I appreciate the thought, but really, I was fine. This, I could handle. I'll save your mobility assistance services for when I have to move around the rest of this acreage you call a house. Besides, I had to go to the bathroom."

He just stared at her blankly, not understanding her point.

She took a breath and explained. "Castle, it's just slightly creepy knowing that you're waiting for me to do my thing in the bathroom, even if the door is shut. I know guys often have entire conversations while they're taking care of business, and don't even get me started on the newspaper thing, but women do like a bit more privacy. Or at least the illusion of privacy. You live with two women. Has nobody clued you in to this yet?"

He shrugged. "They have their own bathrooms."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, consider yourself enlightened."

"Fine, but let me help you other times, okay? I have two perfectly good feet, and if we share, that's one and a half feet per person. So we may go more slowly, but at least then it gives us a chance to cuddle." He raised an eyebrow, indicating that he felt a good cuddle was a nice side effect of him helping her.

She rolled her eyes again. "Fine."

From the pile, he grabbed a can of soda and handed it to her. "Drink?"

She took it and thanked him. He asked her about the games, and after a bit of deliberation, she picked The Game of Life. "I haven't played Life since I was a kid."

So Rick set up the game board in the middle of the king size bed. When everything was ready, he walked over by Kate and gallantly offered her a hand, which she took. But he surprised her by sweeping her off her feet, bridal style, and walking over to set her down on the bed. "Really, I was okay to hop, Castle."

"Detective, I'm trying to be chivalrous and you're ruining it for me," he told her with a mock pout.

"Oh, well then, the next time I see a mud puddle, feel free to throw your cape over it so I don't have to get my feet dirty," she quipped, referring to the old legend about Sir Walter Raleigh and the Queen.

"If I wore a cape, and I saw a mud puddle, I would be happy to do that for you, m'lady," he told her in a falsely haughty voice. "But alas, in your current condition, I think perhaps the most recent demonstration of my chivalry is more suitable."

"Not to mention that any mud puddle out there now would likely be frozen and covered under about two feet of snow."

At the mention of the snow, Rick went over to the window to survey the status of the storm. Opening the curtains, he was surprised when he looked out. "Hey, is it just me or does the snow look a little bit lighter?" He opened the curtains wider and stepped aside so she could see from her vantage point on the bed.

"I think you're right. But come on, let's figure out what Life has in store for us," she told him, motioning him back to the game. He started walking back toward the bed, but then all of a sudden broke into a run and leaped on the bed behind where she was sitting, landing with a huge bounce. Kate saw the spectacle of flying man come toward her and shrank out of the way, giving him a look. "Was that fun for you?" she asked him when he had landed.

He laid on his side and propped his head up on a bent arm, giving her a cocky look. "Of course. What good is a bed if you can't jump on it every once in a while?" His words were nothing but light, but of course, they evoked a thoroughly different image in Kate's mind of what a bed-this bed in particular-could be used for. Shaking that thought out of her head, she asked Castle which color car he wanted for the game.

"Red, of course."

"Of course," she agreed, giving him the red car and taking the blue one for herself. As he took it, he sat up right next to her so their shoulders were touching as they sat. Her bad leg was stretched out on one side of the game board, and when he sat up, he stretched out his legs on the other side of the board, leaning back on his arms.

They started the game, and almost immediately after getting married, Kate was the proud mother of twins. Her mouth dropped open when she landed on that square, and she muttered, "there goes my figure."

"Don't worry," Rick told her, patting her arm, "I'm sure your husband will still love you. I mean, look at those two beautiful children you gave him," he said, picking up the two small plastic pieces that represented the 'children' of the game, holding them up in front of them and gazing at them.

"Yes," she said dryly, looking at the plastic sticks, "they're definitely faces only a mother could love. Or they would be, if they had faces."

"Beckett, Beckett, Beckett," he murmured, shaking his head. "But fine, let's see if I can become a father again."

He spun the wheel and was chagrinned to miss the twin space that Kate had landed on, but he did land on a bank space and got some money. Two turns later, Kate once again added to her family with a bouncing baby pink plastic peg. "Again?" she asked. "Well, at least you have to pay me some money. Hand it over, Daddy Warbucks."

"I had no idea you were so fertile, Detective," Rick quipped.

"Neither did I," she said dryly.

They went on for a few more turns, and Kate was almost giddy to land on a money space. Conversely, Rick still had not been able to add to his family, always just missing those spaces. When Kate landed on yet another one, this time for a beautiful baby blue peg, Kate said " Oh, come _onnnnnnn_!" she said to nobody in particular, leaning her head back into Rick's shoulder and closing her eyes.

"What's wrong, don't you want to be a mother?"

"Well, sure, but in a little more controlled manner, thank you very much! Not four kids before I even have a chance to have my morning coffee!"

"Can I have one?"

"One of my kids?"

"Yeah. I don't have any. And I'm running out of time. I have to have a child soon or I'll be out of luck."

"You really want a kid?"

"Yes! Whenever I play this game I like to see how many kids I can end up with. But for some reason, I just never have any luck. Kind of like in real life."

"Uh, Castle? You have a real kid. A great one. One with a french accent a lot better than yours."

"I know, and I love her to death. But I always wanted more. And it's really sad that I can't even get them in the Milton Bradley game version."

She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Tell you what, Castle. If you need a kid or two at the end of the game, I'll let you have one or two of mine."

He stared at her, and then smiled. "Beckett, I'm touched. Thanks for sharing your kids with me."

"Not a problem. But Castle?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let this get out. It just would _not_ sound right."

He winked at her. "Got it."

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At about noon, they looked out the window again and found that it wasn't snowing anymore. Not in the least. Not one little, rebel snowflake. After the last twenty four hours of solid snow, it looked strange to have absolutely none. Well, none in the air anyway. There was plenty on the ground.

Rick went to see what he could fix for lunch, and left Kate alone in the room. Since they were finished with The Game of Life, she packed everything up and put it away. Rick did actually end up as the proud daddy to a little blue plastic peg, and he was overjoyed. Kate, on the other hand, added a fifth child to her plastic menagerie. Rick earned a glare from her when he told her that she'd have to give up police work to open her own daycare, just for her own kids.

Lunch was served a short time later, and they ate it while they played Monopoly, not forgetting to ice Kate's ankle again. As the game tends to do, it became very long and drawn out, and amongst bouts of good-natured arguing about the merits of trade offers and other random things, Rick started yawning. Of course, watching Rick yawn made Kate yawn.

Finally, at about two o'clock, they both looked at each other knowingly, and my mutual unspoken agreement, Rick gingerly slid the game board over to the other side of the bed. Kate took the remaining ice off her foot and set it on the floor before she laid down on the pillows, while Rick grabbed one of the extra blankets they'd used the night before and had folded up when he made the bed. He stretched out side of her and spread out the blanket over both of them.

Under the blanket, he rolled on his side a bit and put his arm around her as she snuggled against him. "Mmm...goodnight," she told him sleepily.

"It's not night," he mumbled, his author's brain automatically searching for the correct word.

"Fine. Good afternoon then."

"Good afternoon, Kate."

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At about three o'clock, the power came back on, but nobody in the master suite knew about it because they were still fast asleep, snuggled together under the blanket.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

At three thirty in the afternoon, they were still fast asleep, but Martha wasn't. Richard had brought her lunch a little after noon, but she hadn't heard from him since then. When he visited her, he'd told her that they were taking a page from the Alexis Castle manual of surviving a blizzard and were playing board games in his room.

"Richard, really. You and that beautiful woman, in your _bedroom_, playing _board_ games? I didn't just fall off the turnip truck, you know. So is 'board' now a euphemism for 'bed'?"

"Mother! I'm shocked! Yes, we're in my room. It has a _fireplace_, mother, and therefore, heat. You wouldn't expect me to make her stay in a room with no heat source, would you? With a sprained ankle, no less?" Martha shook her head and looked at the ceiling, giving him a non-committal look. "Nothing happened," he told her as he ducked out of her room and closed the door.

"Yet," she told the closed door with a smile.

Now, it was obvious that the power was back on. It was so nice to have lamps again! She fully expected Richard to come in and check on her, or at least tell her that the power was back on (as if she couldn't figure _that_ out for herself. But alas, that boy of hers did often underestimate her brain power).

But when half an hour had elapsed and there was no sign of Richard at all-no shouting, no loud, blaring music, just because he could, no sounds of television-she wondered what was going on. So she went in search of him. But of course, first she made sure that she looked appropriately ill, although considering that she hadn't yet had a shower today, that wasn't too hard to do.

Now, the last thing she would _ever_ want to do would be to knock on the door of a bedroom where she knew her son had...company. But she was really wondering what happened to them, and since she couldn't hear any...uh...noises coming from the room, she knocked very softly, holding her breath while she rapped her knuckles on the door.

No answer. Nothing. Not even a sound.

So even though it felt extremely strange to her, she turned the knob and soundlessly pushed the door open. And upon seeing what she was seeing, she felt a smile light her face and she had to fight to keep her mouth from emitting a happy exclamation. For in front of her, her son and the lovely detective were snuggled together on top of his bed, under a blanket. She could see where Kate's injured ankle was propped up on a pillow on the edge of the bed. But when she looked back up at the two bodies snuggled together, she could see that the blanket had fallen down a bit and her son had his arm wrapped around her possessively, and she was holding onto his arm with her hands draped lightly over it. Their heads were right next to each other, and the peaceful looks on their faces were...sweet. Yes, something had definitely changed with these two recently...for the better. And it was about time.

She soundlessly went back to her room to get her phone, and she snapped a quiet picture when she returned. And then she went back to her room, closing the door quietly behind her, and let the new couple enjoy their slumber just a bit more.

* * *

_**Well, now the power is back on, so we just have to wait for them to clear the roads, right? **_

_**I hope that what I said about the game was accurate enough. I haven't played that game in ages! I have no idea if the newer version still has the little blue and pink plastic people pegs to stick in the cars or not, but that's the version that I had as a kid. We'll just pretend that Castle had a vintage version. And now I feel sufficiently old, having just basically called myself 'vintage'.**_

_**Reviews? The more reviews I get, the more it makes me want to write the next chapter faster. So click on that little 'Review this Chapter' link below. Yup, that's it...that one right down there.**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**Has it really been nine whole days since I updated this? Wow...sorry! I guess that's one of the perils of having three stories going at once. I never intended to have three going at once...it just kind of happened. I got an idea in my head (or three of them, actually) and they just kept growing like radioactive monsters. **_

_**I'm glad you all seemed to like the game of Life in the last chapter. And it is SO nice to know that there are so many other 'vintage' people reading this!**_

_**A few shout-outs: **_

_**Lizzie, thanks and 'darling' is a wonderful adjective. Thanks for reading!**_

_**Christoph, I giggled so hard when I saw your review. I can't say 'when I read your review' because I don't know German! Thank goodness for internet translation sites! And thank you for the review.**_

_**Calleigh, I hope you got your paper done! Thanks for reading! Now, whatever you do, do NOT start reading 'The Plan' when you have things that are due. That's my PSA for today.**_

_**Blue Tigress, Thank you!**_

_**Youdude Maddie, You're right...that is a supremely high compliment, and I thank you for it! And for what you suggested, that would be the most awesome thing ever!**_

_**This next chaper is one of my longer ones, although it doesn't travel through that much time. Hope you like it!**_

_**By the way, if the site keeps having problems, check out my twitter postings...I'm xxGoogiexx and I'll try to tweet when I post an update to a story.**_

_**Disclaimer: the usual.**_

* * *

She was warm. Really warm. No, that wasn't right.

She was hot.

And as she woke up from her nap-their nap-she wasn't quite sure why she was so hot. She opened her eyes and she could see the fire burning in the fireplace. And she could feel Castle's arm around her, holding her close to him. He was snuggled against her, and she had to admit, once again, that she really liked the feelings that she was feeling now. It had all happened so fast, relatively speaking, but she was still surprised and how...natural it felt to be her like this, with him. And the man was a really good cuddler.

But she was still really hot.

This was basically how they'd slept the previous night, and she didn't remember being this warm before, despite having more blankets on them. Was she getting a fever? No...she felt fine, she realized after a mental check. She raised her hand to feel of Rick's forehead to see if he felt warm, and while he was toasty, he wasn't abnormally warm. Then she looked over toward the sitting area in the bedroom, and when she registered the soft glow emanating from the muted overhead lights on the ceiling, she realized what it was that was making her so warm.

Heat! From a furnace! The power was back on!

She also noted that the reason she was able to notice the muted overhead lights was because it was now mostly dark outside. With a glance at the bedside clock, she noticed that it was almost five o'clock. She knew they shouldn't doze any longer or they wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. So she rubbed Rick's arm that was still wrapped around her, trying to wake him up. "Castle. Wake up. Rick..." He merely mumbled something unintelligible and tightened his arm around her, snuggling his head even closer into her neck. Yup, the man was a cuddler, that was for sure. She laid there for a minute, enjoying the feeling of being held so closely, so lovingly by him. She tried to remember why she thought they should get up, and she was having a hard time coming up with the reason. But then she remembered the heat, and the time, and her ankle, which should probably be iced again, and Martha, and she realized that they really did have to get up, no matter how much she might want to lay there with him.

Her gentle methods of waking him hadn't worked before, so she thought, with a devious smile, that she'd try something that had a lot more of a guarantee at getting some results. She pulled away just a bit so she could turn her head, and then she touched her lips to his. She tried a few gentle kisses, and then she whispered, "Rick, wake up," before she tried another couple of little kisses. She wound one of her hands up around his neck, and then the next time she kissed those sleepy lips, she used the tip of her tongue to tease them a little bit, knowing that if the kisses alone hadn't garnered a reaction yet, that probably would.

She waited for one beat, two beats. Then, sure enough, she felt his lips start to respond, felt them open underneath her own. She continued to tease his lips, which was somewhat hard to do because of the grin that was forming on her own mouth at just how easy he was. But really, she wasn't complaining, because even without very much of a response from him, she still felt that little tingle in her belly when she kissed him, and she wasn't really in any hurry to stop, so he could just take as long as he wanted to wake up.

She kept giving him little kisses as he began to respond more and more to her. But she felt that he wasn't fully awake yet; he was just responding from memory. She decided it was time to really wake him up, so she teasingly touched her tongue to his lips again, and then took his bottom lip between her teeth and gently tugged. She felt his lips open more at the contact with her teeth, and then she instantly deepened the kiss by finding his tongue with her own. And when that contact was made, she knew he was fully conscious again. Especially when he moaned and leaned over her a bit, pressing her into the pillow as he now took the initiative with the kiss.

After several minutes of more of the same, which resulted in a decided lack of oxygen in their bodies because they were both too busy to breathe, he broke away and drew a ragged breath, which matched her own. They stared at each other with smoky eyes before his mouth broke into grin. "_That_ is just a damn _fine_ way to wake up."

"I tried the more conventional methods and you were dead to the world."

He raised an eyebrow at her with a suggestive grin. "I guess I just needed the right incentive."

She tried to explain why she wanted to get out of bed, but after that kiss, she wasn't very eloquent with her words yet. "I was hot."

"I'll say!" he told her enthusiastically, obviously misunderstanding her, thinking she was talking about the kiss.

"No, I mean we have power, we have heat."

"I know, right? But I always suspected we would." He punctuated his statement with another suggestive grin.

She rolled her eyes and reached up to lightly whack him on the head. "I'm not talking about you and me, Mr. One Track Mind. I'm talking about the electrical power. See the lights? Feel the heat from the furnace? With the fire and the blanket, and now the heat, I am roasting. It has to be eighty degrees in here."

His head whipped around and he jumped up so he was kneeling on the bed, looking around. "You're right! Cool!" Then he registered the heat of the room, and he pulled his shirt away from his body. "Or rather, hot. Ugh." He hopped off the bed and turned the fireplace off and then walked over to the wall switch to turn the overhead lights on. The room was immediately illuminated and Kate had the urge to shield her eyes. Rick did shield his eyes at the sudden assault of light, and immediately reached for the dimmer switch and turned the light down to a more muted level.

"Whoa, that's better. After a day with no power, my eyes aren't used to normal lighting anymore, I guess. But wow, it really _is_ hot in here!" And he pulled off his sweatshirt to reveal the t-shirt that he had underneath. The only problem was that he almost pulled off both shirts, so before he pulled the t-shirt back down, Kate got a good view of a chest that she figured she wouldn't mind seeing more of. Or feeling more of.

Rick caught her gaze and smiled at her. He gestured toward himself, smiling smugly, and said in his best game-show host voice, "Yes, Detective, this too can be yours, for the low, low price of more of those wake-up kisses of yours."

"For me to give you a wake-up kiss, doesn't that imply that I'd actually have to be there when you woke up again? Which presumably I wouldn't be, since the power is now on and there's obviously enough heat in my bedroom for me to sleep in there tonight. Right?"

She'd caught him off-guard with the statement. His mouth opened to say something, and then closed again before any words were uttered. During the last twenty four hours, he'd just grown so used to her being by him, and taking care of her, and had gotten _very_ accustomed to cuddling with her and falling asleep with her, that his mind had just automatically assumed that the sleeping situation wouldn't change. But he didn't want to pressure her, or scare her off, or worse yet, make her mad by trying to bend her rules again when there was no reason, so he merely shrugged as he tried to cover up his gaffe. So when he opened his mouth again, this time words actually came out. "Uh, yeah. Right. I just thought that...if I slept late, uh, maybe you could just come into my room and wake me up like that, you know?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure, Castle. Hopalong Beckett will just hop into your room tomorrow morning. Hey, if I had a little basket of chocolate eggs and floppy ears, I could double as the Easter Bunny!" she suggested sarcastically. Then when she saw him grin at her, she realized what she said. Because, much as she hated to admit it, she knew how his mind worked, because hers often worked in the same way. So her mind flashed back to the previous morning, and she knew that his grin was in reference to his comment when they were doing the snowblowing. She shook her head and, pointing a finger at him, told him menacingly, "Castle, Do NOT-"

"You really ARE a snow bunny now!" he said, pointing back at her and barely able to contain his mirth. "You put snow on your leg, and you even have to hop like a bunny now!" And he collapsed on the bed in laughter.

She stared at him for a moment, shaking her head, fire in her eyes. "Castle, I warned you before about the curse of the snow bunny! You are going to get it now!" And she lunged forward in the bed, she pushed at his shoulders but was still unconsciously mindful of her ankle. He rolled out of the way, still laughing. She looked around frantically for a weapon, still needing to repay him for the snow bunny comment, and settled on the king-sized pillow that she'd been laying on when she slept. He wanted a snow bunny? She'd show him a rabid snow bunny with a severe case of hypothermia-induced dementia. And if that condition didn't exist, then by God, she was going to invent it!

She raised up on her knees, being cautious of her ankle, and drew back the pillow. She took aim, and then found great satisfaction when, right before the pillow struck, she registered Castle's surprised face as it went from mirthful to shocked in .27 seconds as he registered the incoming pillow attack. It flattened him. Never let it be said that Kate Beckett couldn't hold her own in a pillow fight.

He rolled over from the force and almost rolled entirely off the other side of the bed. He caught himself before he totally rolled on the floor, although the monopoly game was ruined. Game pieces went flying. "Beckett!" he shouted, shocked at her viciousness with the pillow.

"What's wrong, Castle? Can't take on a little _snow bunny_?" she asked him with derision. "Come on, it's only a little pillow!"

"Wielded by a manic tasmanian she-devil!" he told her in surprised exaperation, with a bewildered look on his face. "Beckett!"

"You were warned, Castle! Now, it's time to suffer the curse of the snow bunny!" And she advanced on him again and somehow wielded the pillow so it struck him before he had a chance to move out of the way.

"Geez, Beckett! Did you take the NYPD advanced course on pillow fighting?"

"Just wait, Castle! You ain't seen nothin' yet!" And she advanced toward him on the bed, surprisingly fast on two knees, and she nailed him again with the pillow before he could get out of the way. He fell down on the bed, this time on the head of the bed, right on the pillows that were tucked under the comforter. But in a surprisingly limber move, probably borne from pure survival instinct, he reached under the comforter and grabbed a pillow, rearing it back and arcing it down toward her head in one fell swoop. It connected with her and knocked her off her knees, but as she fell, she managed to grab it with her hands. She yanked the pillow, and Rick, not expecting his pillow to seemingly have a mind of its own, fell toward it when it didn't come back to him.

And he fell right on Kate. And as he fell toward her, she lost her balance from the momentum and landed flat on her back, which meant that he landed right on top of her. After he'd landed, he made no move to shift away, and looked right into her eyes and, of course, right at her mouth. his gaze was hungry and posessive, and she had no problem recognizing it, although he didn't make a move to come any closer. She gazed into his eyes and became aware of the weight of his body on hers. But this time, she was somewhat immune to his charms.

"Lame, Castle."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Trying to distract me in the romantic sense so you can avoid getting your butt kicked? Lame."

"I'll have you know...I was NOT...Beckett, _you_ are the lame one, to try to use a ruse like that to your advantage."

"A ruse? Right. _You_, sir, are the one who fell on _me_ this time. So exactly _who _is trying to use the ruse? Huh? Face it, you were getting your butt kicked, or pillowed, as the case may be, so you're trying to win by using a different persuasion." With him still poised above her as he was, her voice had now lowered to be little more than a whisper.

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours, before he finally said, "So...truce?"

It wasn't what she'd expected him to say, or do. "Uh...sure."

"In this position, we can't really shake on it."

"No, we certainly can't. You'd have to let me up."

"What if I don't want to do that?"

"Then I'd say that we're probably thinking the same thing."

He raised an eyebrow at her right before he lowered his mouth to meet hers. They kissed, but by unspoken agreement, they both knew to keep it light. They both knew that they couldn't let anything get too heated, not right now. So after a few kisses, he raised his head and broke contact, telling her, "I like that method of agreeing on a truce, too."

And he raised above her to sit back up on the bed, giving her a hand so she could sit up too.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Twenty minutes later, having insisted that she needed a shower, she was sitting in the bathroom, waiting for Castle to bring her shampoo and other toiletry items from the other bathroom. He swooped back into the bathroom with a couple of towels for her, along with several bottles that she recognized as her own. After putting the bottles on the shower shelves and the towels on the racks, he pulled the chair over right in front of the shower and helped her over to it. Then he backed up and just stood there. She looked at him, waiting for him to do something, but he just stood there.

She opened the door to the shower and hopped in, taking one of the large, fluffy bath towels with her. Then she shut the door. "Okay, Castle...skedaddle. I'm good."

His brows knitted together. "Kate, I'd hate to mention this, but uh, you need to take your clothes off to take a shower."

She shook her head, looking at the ceiling. "Oh, Castle, I'm sure that's not true." He looked at her quizzically, and then she clarified, "I'm sure you absolutely _love_ to mention anything regarding me taking my clothes off."

He sighed. "Beckett, you can't take a shower with your clothes on. And you look ridiculous standing in the shower stall right now with your clothes on."

"Maybe so, Castle, but what did you think I was going to do...a little one-legged striptease in front of you?" His mouth fell open a bit at her words. "I am not going to shower with my clothes on. But _you_ are going to leave now, and then _I_ will take care of what I need to take care of. I can take off my clothes in here, where I can sit on the shower seat, and then I can hang them over the rack. And though I know you'd just _love_ to help me with all of that, I am going to politely decline. Now, I repeat, skedaddle. Leave. Adios. Maintenant!"

He understood everything except for the last thing she said, and she could see the puzzlement on his face. "It's french, Castle. It means 'now'! So will you leave, maintenant, s'il vous plait?"

"Oui," he responded, and backed toward the door. "Just call if you need help. Remember, I can be good. I didn't peek when your apartment blew up."

"Go check on your mother and come back in fifteen minutes, okay?"

He nodded, and then with one reluctant look at her, he closed the door. She sat for a full minute in the shower before she started to disrobe, just to make sure he didn't try to come back. But he didn't so she slowly managed to take her clothes off, hanging them on a rack at the far side of the shower stall. It couldn't really even be called a stall; it would almost qualify as a room in some impoverished countries. It was obviously custom designed, all tile and marble, and the shower itself looked like it had more settings than some televisions. Luckily, it was all straightforward, and she got the shower turned on, standing on one foot and letting the warm spray wash over her. It felt wonderful, although it didn't take long before she had to sit down on the seat to give her good leg a break. But she was able to angle the spray over by the seat so she could still luxuriate in the feel of the hot water cascading over her.

She would have stayed in for longer, but she knew that the time limit that she'd given Rick was probably approaching, and she did _not_ want him walking in on her. She turned off the water and grabbed the towel to dry off. After she got the towel wrapped around her and had managed to hop out, she sat on the chair and reached for her suitcase. And sure enough, she was sitting there, topless, when she heard the knock at the door. "Don't come in!" she yelled to him. She hurriedly put on her bra and a shirt before hopping over to the vanity to run a comb through her towel-dried hair, and then she told him to come in.

He opened the door slowly and was surprised to see her standing by the vanity, putting on a bit of makeup. "Kate, were you hopping again?"

She whipped around and pointed her eye pencil at him. "Castle, I swear if I hear one word about bunnies of any sort-"

"No, no," he protested, hands held up in front of him, palms out. "I believe in the curse of the snow bunny now. I was just going to say that I didn't want you to slip and fall in case it was wet anywhere."

"We won't talk about how I got out of the shower stall then," she told him absently, as she turned around and started applying her eyeliner again.

"Good thinking. I'm sure I wouldn't like it anyway."

"No, I'm sure you'd prefer to think of me _inside_ the shower stall." Her tone was still casual, but the words were calculated, and she watched him in the mirror as his eyes got just a little bigger and he quickly glanced over at the stall, as if he was indeed imagining her there. As she showered. And she had to stifle a chuckle as he gulped.

She finished with her eyes and hopped a bit closer to him. He was still staring at the stall, but her hops snapped him out of his reverie and he went to her and took her elbow.

"How's Martha?" she said out of the blue.

"Why do you always _do_ that?" he asked her in a frustrated voice.

"Do what?"

"Interrupt my fantasies of you-or even my real moments with you-by mentioning the old lady?"

She rolled her eyes. "Trust me, you looked like you needed to be brought back to reality just then. What better way than bringing up your mother?"

"Do you have any idea how fundamentally _wrong_ it is to superimpose a vision of my mother into one of my fanasies of you? Especially one of you in a shower?"

She didn't answer him, but instead prompted, "So, anyway, your mother..."

"...is fine, and looked a bit better. She seemed very happy to have finally had a shower too."

"Good."

"So," he said, "I started some dinner downstairs. What do you prefer for your mode of transportation?"

She made a twirly motion with her finger, indicating for him to turn around. "Piggy back ride, please."

He bent over and squatted down slightly, saying "Your chariot awaits."

"So," she asked him as she hoisted herself onto his back, "if you've morphed into a chariot now, can I trust you not to giddy-up? Because chariots don't giddy-up, you know."

He snapped his fingers. "Darn! I'm going to have to watch my wording from now on. But let's get going. I have a surprise for you downstairs." And as he carried her through the bedroom, he started making a low, 'vroom vroom' sound, like an engine.

Upon hearing that, Kate leaned her lips right by his ear and said, "Castle? Chariots don't have engines, so lose the vrooming sounds."

He shook his head a little bit, muttering, "No giddy-ups, no vrooms...geez, Kate, where's the fun in that?"

* * *

_**No Martha action in this chapter, but I'll see if she's feeling better to make an appearance during the next chaper. ;-) And I'll try my best to make the next chapter appear more quickly than this one did.**_

_**And please, don't get all wild about the surprise. It's nothing grand like the surprise in 'The Plan', but it'll be cute (I hope).**_

_**Reviews? Please and thanks in advance!**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**I took a little break from this to turn out a couple of chapters of 'The Plan', since people seemed to want updates for that fic more than this one. This would have been up about a day ago, but we were visiting family for the holiday and of course, no WiFi, so therefore, no upload. This ended up being my longest chapter yet for this story, so I hope it's not too long for some of you who like the shorter chapters.**_

_**A few notes on some of the comments I received for the last chapter: **_

_**I'm glad so many of you liked the pillow fight!**_

_**gmay, you're so sweet! Hopefully you get the alerts so you can get the chapters when they're hot off the press (so to speak) and you don't have to wait any longer than necessary.**_

_**Mirandaleighj, thanks so much! I'm very happy that you're enjoying the story! I don't have a facebook account for my author persona, but I do have a twitter account, xxGoogiexx, if you'd like to follow me. I try to tweet a notification there when I post a new chapter.**_

_**Tycho77, although this is my 20th chapter, I often don't cover a lot of time in the story with each chapter. I go for detail, not passage of time. So even though it may seem like longer, Kate only sprained her ankle about a day ago, in the timeline of the story. As far as I know, most sprained ankles take a lot longer to heal than that. So sorry, the ankle will not be fully healed anytime soon. :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. If I did, Beckett would probably kick my butt for giving her a sprained ankle. But of course, I got her into bed with Castle, although (somewhat)platonically, so that should count for something. ;-)**_

* * *

"Kate, it's to help you get around a bit more on your own, not to allow you to full-out walk on it. I really don't think you should try to put any weight on it until you've seen a doctor."

Rick, upon rummaging in one of the closets for some gloves, had found a hand-carved walking stick that he'd bought from a carver at an arts fair a few years prior. Although it wasn't a crutch or even a cane, Rick thought it might work to give Kate a little bit of independence to at least have some stability or support if she wanted to move a short distance on her own. But now she was leaning against the back of the couch, with both feet on the ground, obviously getting ready to step on an ankle that was still visibly swollen.

"Castle, it's my ankle and if I want to try to walk on it, then I'm going to try to walk on it."

"There's no need to be stubborn about it. Or to be stupid about it."

She raised an eyebrow in a threatening glare. "Castle, did you just call me stupid?"

He leaned forward, matching her glare. "No, I did _not_ call you stupid. Not at all. But I did say that if you try to walk on that ankle now, that would be a stupid thing to do. And since neither one of us think you're stupid, can we agree that you will not try to put any weight on that foot until you've had it checked out? I mean, Kate, look at it. You don't even _have_ an ankle because of the swelling." He placed a hand over hers, over the one that was holding onto the walking stick, preparing to stand up. "Please, honey? I don't want you to end up hurting it more than it already is."

The 'honey' did it. If she'd ever thought about anyone calling her 'honey', she would have laughed at the thought, at how absurd it sounded. And now, he'd called her that twice. She'd never thought of herself as someone who would elicit the use of that particular term of endearment, except for maybe her father. She was not a 'honey'. But somehow, when Rick said it, to her, it was...sweet. Endearing. And coupled with the earnest look on his face and the way he leaned toward her as he spoke, she knew it was sincere. He cared. And from what she could see-from what she was beginning to realize she could always see-he cared more than a little bit. And that concern that she felt made her break his gaze as she looked down, knowing that he was right. If her ankle was that swollen, and it was, she knew there was really something wrong with it, and pushing herself to try to walk on it certainly wasn't going to help it. She looked up again after about a second and heaved a sigh of frustration. "Fine. I'll just use the walking stick for balance and I won't put any weight on my bad leg. Happy?"

He smiled. "Ecstatic." He risked leaning in and giving her a little kiss, and then smiled after he pulled back and she didn't inflict any physical harm on him. "Okay, so just to try it out, why don't you hold onto the stick and see if you can hop, kind of like you use it in place of your bad leg. And I'll be on the other side if you need me. I know it won't be like crutches, but at least it's something to provide some balance."

They walked, or hopped in Kate's case, around the living room for several minutes, letting Kate get used to it. She didn't try to put her bad foot down again, and Rick suspected it was because the limb still really hurt, although he knew she wouldn't want to admit it. But she managed to move a little better using the sturdy piece of wood and it gave her just a modicum of independence. After her tour of the living room, she directed her hops toward the counter by the kitchen and collapsed on one of the chairs lining the counter, where she had sat a mere day ago, when she'd decided to make Castle a little uncomfortable and push back. And it was fun pushing him back-like that. Well, until she went and sprained her ankle. She lifted her injured foot onto the chair next to her as she looked over to the floor where they had both collapsed after their cookie dough fight. She smiled as she remembered the fight, the little lip-lock interludes, and of course the delicious pan cookies that they had eventually made. Then she looked up at Castle and saw him grinning at her before he asked, "Want one?"

"Want one _what_?" she asked him back.

"A pan cookie." He grinned again as her mouth dropped open just a bit.

"How did you know that I was-"

He cut her off, "Because I was thinking the same thing, and the last time we were in here together, it involved pan cookies. And you know how often we have the same thoughts."

"Do not," she protested.

"Do too," he countered.

She sat back in the chair and gave him a smug look. "You're delusional, Castle, but if you want to think that you can read my mind, go ahead."

"Hey, I never said that I could read your mind, just that we often have the same thoughts. Like before when you were getting ready to walk on your ankle. I knew it. Because I know how your mind works. And you were trying to will your ankle to feel better just so you can get some semblance of independence back. I know you don't like having to depend on me."

She didn't counter him any further because, damn it, he was right again. She didn't want to be dependent on him. On anyone.

"This sucks," was all she said with her face in sort of a pout, which was uncharacteristic of her.

He stepped forward, into her personal space, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he leaned down and gave her a reassuring kiss on the top of her head. "I know. But tomorrow, we'll get you to a doctor, and you'll be fixed up in no time. Then you'll be back to your old kick-butt self really quickly. Kicking butt with both legs," he added. When his arm came around her shoulders, she leaned into him and just enjoyed the feel of him. It wasn't an overly romantic embrace, but it was nice, comforting.

Right after that, they heard some shuffling and they both looked up to see Martha pad into the kitchen area wearing a very brightly colored pair of pajamas with a matching robe over everything. Rick barely got out a startled "Mother!" before she swooped down by Kate.

"Richard, scoot," she ordered nonchalantly, not really even acknowleging the embrace that she had interrupted between the younger couple. She pulled Kate into a nicely-scented hug as she almost hip-checked her son out of the way. "You poor dear! Richard told me all about your little problem. Let me see..." she looked down at Kate's ankle, where caught sight of the bruised and swollen limb. "Ugh. Oh, dear!" She put a hand over her mouth in a dramatic gesture. "Look at that...that does not look good at all. Oh, that must really hurt. We really need to get you to a doctor-"

"Already planning on it, Mother," Rick said, with an annoying tone to his voice. "But we obviously can't go yet because nothing is _plowed_. But we've been icing it pretty regularly."

"Of course, Richard. But you have made her a poultice for the swelling, haven't you?"

Kate's bewildered look was in total contrast to look of excitement that bloomed on Rick's face as he grabbed 'the old lady' and gave her a big kiss on her cheek. "Oh, Mother, that's a wonderful idea! I'd forgotten all about that! I knew there was some reason I keep you around!" Martha beamed dramatically, looking very pleased with herself. "Where is everything? Is it still in the big closet upstairs?"

When Martha shrugged, Rick gave Kate a quick but highly familiar kiss on her lips before he dashed off toward the stairs, yelling "Be right back!" over his shoulder.

Kate hadn't expected the quick kiss, and she was immediately conscious of Martha sitting right there, having witnessed said kiss as she looked on with a knowing little smile on her face. Kate felt she should say something, since the easy affection between them, at least on Rick's part, wasn't something Martha had seen before. "Uh, Martha..."

Martha gave her a pointed look, and Kate realized just how sharp the woman was. And when she spoke next, Kate was not prepared at all for the words that came out of the older woman's mouth. "Kate, dear, you have a look on your face like you're a bit worried about what my son is up to. But never fear. He'll have that ankle of yours feeling better in no time."

Kate knew from the look on Martha's face that there was no way that she'd missed the kiss, or the new level of familiarity between her and Rick, but she was choosing not to say anything about it. And that realization of that and the relief of being saved from a relationship talk with your...with the mother of the man who had just kissed you-when Kate, herself, didn't even know the extent of that 'relationship' yet-made her smile and offer some sincere words to the older woman. "Thank you, Martha," Kate told her, as she placed a hand over the other woman's. And both of them knew that Kate's thanks were for more than just Martha's reassurances about what Rick was up to.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

When Rick had returned from his trip upstairs holding a box containing all sorts of strange looking bottles, vials and packages, Kate still had a few moments of worry despite Martha's reassurances.

"Castle, just what do you think you're going to do with all of that stuff? And please tell me that all of that is legal."

"Perfectly legal, detective," he laughed.

"Sooooo..." she prompted again.

"I'm making a poultice for you. For your ankle. To help with the swelling. A poultice is-"

"I know what a poultice is, Castle. But if you're going to try some sort of voodoo thing on me and start hopping around and chanting things-"

"If he does that, I want a video," Martha interrupted, holding a glass of wine, that she promptly sipped after her quip.

"Mother! Look at you, breaking into the fermented grapes! You must be feeling better," Rick said sarcastically.

"Well, yes, I do feel a tad better. And you know, there a lot of medicinal qualities in a good glass of wine. Really helps the throat, you know."

"Yes," Rick said to Kate under his breath, "if you drink enough of it, you'll pass out and then magically, your throat doesn't hurt anymore!"

"I heard that," Martha said. "There's nothing wrong with my hearing, though."

Kate decided to give the woman a break, partially because she was still grateful to Martha for not putting her on the spot earlier. "Martha, I think I may need a few of those medicinal qualities of that wine if I'm going to let Rick play witchdoctor on my leg with that stuff. Would you mind pouring me a glass?"

"Not at all, dear! I'll be right back."

When she'd left the room, Rick started mashing herbs together in a small bowl and adding drops of mineral water and what looked like aloe vera gel. He had a little smile on his face, but Kate had no way of knowing it was because she'd offhandedly called him 'Rick' again when she was just talking to his mother.

"Am I going to get a rash from this?"

"I hope not."

"Castle, you're not instilling a lot of confidence in me."

"Don't worry, I've studied this. I was going to use it for a book once so I did a lot of research on the different types of herbs, and the combinations you can use to help heal different injuries. I don't know why I didn't think about it before"

"I don't remember anything like this in any of your books."

He narrowed his eyes and gave her the cute little cocky Castle smile. "So you _have_ read all of my books! I knew you were more of a fan than you like to let on." He mashed a few more herbs as she rolled her eyes. "But no, this bit of research never made it into the book. My publisher didn't like the 'earthiness' of it, or something. Had to go a different route. But I kept all of the research, and Alexis used it last year when she had to do a research project for her AP science class. You wouldn't believe the places we had to go to to get some of these herbs! But then she got some practical use because Mother had a little stage accident, so Alexis was able to 'doctor' her. Now mother is a total believer."

"I'm a total believer in what, Richard?" Martha asked as she flounced back into the room, handing a glass of wine to Kate.

"The power of the healing properties of fermented libations, mother." He didn't miss a beat.

"Oh, you," she said, waving her hand dismissively at her son. Turning to Kate, she said, "There are many healing properties in a good bottle of wine. Not the least of which is the relaxation of the mind that comes when you are able to tune out the negativity of those around you." She very deliberately cocked her head at her son as she said the last words, reaching over to clink her glass with Kate's before taking another healthy sip of the wine. "Drink up, dear."

As Rick finished mashing herbs, Martha launched into some of her stories of the stage, including the mishap that had allowed Alexis to test out her knowledge in a practical way. "Frankly, dear, I don't know who was more excited about me getting hurt, Alexis or Richard. They both couldn't wait to use me as a guinea pig for their new-found skills."

After Rick applied the poultice to Kate's ankle and wrapped it up, he stood up. "I'm going to go throw something in the oven for dinner, and then I'm going to try to go out and tackle a little bit of the driveway now that the snow has stopped. Will you ladies be okay in here for a little while?" He looked pointedly at Martha. "Mother, can you behave?"

Kate stifled a smile as Martha just looked at him. "Really, Richard."

He pointed a finger at her as he backed out of the room. "Behave."

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When he came back into the house a good hour later, he was cold and he was hungry. He'd made a good dent in the driveway, but the snow was just ridiculous. If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn that the snow front had settled right over his house and the majority of snow had fallen on his driveway. But he found that he made a good start, and he'd be well on his way to being able to get his SUV out of the driveway tomorrow to get Kate to a doctor.

He walked into the house and his mouth began to water as he immediately smelled the wonderful aroma of the lasagna that he'd put in the oven earlier. He took off his outer clothes and entered the kitchen, noticing right away that the lasagna was out of the oven and some was already missing, and the bread had been sliced. Quickly making a plate for himself, he tried to follow the sounds that he heard, because they obviously weren't sitting at the counter anymore. And he'd almost found them when he registered the sound that he heard was in fact a woman singing. Was that...'New York'? And it wasn't his mother's voice. He rounded the corner and he caught sight of Kate laying on the couch with a microphone held to her face, belting out a song like there was no tomorrow, a huge smile on her lips. As he watched, she messed up a line, and then as she laughed at her mistake, missed another line. But she got right back on track and finished the song, amidst applause and 'Bravo!' comments from Martha.

He set his plate down on the table and began his own round of applause, which caused both women to look over at him. "Oh, Richard, you're back! And how was your snowblowing escapade?"

"It doesn't look like I had nearly as much fun as you ladies did. You hauled out the karaoke machine, huh?"

"Well, Kate and I were talking about singing, and one thing sort of led to another. She really has a lovely voice. We started off with duets but that was her first solo. Did you hear much?"

"I heard enough," he said, meeting Kate's eyes, which looked a bit embarrassed when they looked back at him. "You sing beautifully," he told her in a tone of honest admiration.

"Thank you," she told him, and then, noticing his food, said, "You'd better eat."

He retrieved his plate. "How's the ankle?" he asked her, referring to the poultice.

She wrinkled her nose. "It stinks. But your mother gave me a bit more wine, and she's right about the healing properties because it really works to heal the ol...fact'ry sense too."

She strung out the word just a bit longer than he would have expected, so he asked Martha, "Exactly how much more wine, Mother?"

"Goodness, Richard! Who's measuring? Just enjoy! We are, aren't we, Kate?" She held up her glass and clinked it with Kate's glass.

Without even thinking, Rick perched himself on the arm of the couch by Kate, and she automatically leaned into him. He finished his meal as the two ladies collaborated on songs from the karaoke machine, with Kate sometimes even holding the microphone up so he could sing a line or two. When he was done eating, he took his plate to the kitchen and cleaned up all of the leftovers before coming back to the two ladies. First, he removed the poultice from her leg and gave her a warm washcloth to wipe off her leg. He was pleased to see that the swelling did look like it had gone down quite a bit. It wasn't normal yet, but it was improving. Wonderful! After he came back he went to sit down by Kate again, and this time she moved over right away so he could squeeze into the corner of the couch with her. He put his arm around her naturally, without even thinking about it.

Martha decided that it was good that she'd made her little appearance tonight. She just simply couldn't fake being sick any longer. And if Kate had really spent the night and the day in Richard's room, even without generating any between-the-sheet-heat, then she knew the tides were turning in that relationship. There were all of these new little looks between them, and automatic touches and yes, even kisses. And she was pretty sure that they weren't even cognizant of half of them. How quickly things had come in a less than two days! And although she was truly sorry for Kate's ankle injury, she was, in a way, grateful for it because it forced them to spend more time together so they had to confront their feelings a bit more head-on. And now, she thought deviously, perhaps she could do something to spur them on just a bit more.

She chose a song on the karaoke machine and handed her microphone to Rick, so both he and Kate each had one. "You can both sing it as a duet," she told them. "I've always liked the Righteous Brothers, you know."

As Martha spoke the name of the original artist, Kate knew what the song was. How could she sing that song with Rick? But then the music was starting and he was nudging her, and the wine made it so she couldn't really concentrate on her objections and she just started singing with him. They'd faced each other as they started singing, and the rest of the room just sort of dropped away from their consciousness.

_'Oh, my love, my darling_

_I've hungered for your touch_

_A long, lonely time_

_And time goes by so slowly_

_And time can do so much_

_Are you still mine?_

_I need your love_

_I need your love_

_God speed your love to me!'_

They kept singing, but were so into the song that they had no idea when Martha got out her camera and quickly snapped a picture. Nor did they have any idea when she quietly exited the room to go upstairs, leaving them singing to each other.

After Martha got to her room, she sat down on her bed and quickly sent a message to Alexis with the picture she had just taken. '_Karaoke night at Casa Castle. Kate-divine singer! Especially singing Unchained Melody with your dad. I left after this.'_

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The song, which they had both sung looking at each other the whole time, finished. Neither moved. Well, neither moved until Rick put down his microphone and leaned forward to touch his lips to Kate's tenderly as he put his hand around the back of her neck. She braced her hand against him, tracing his collarbone with her fingertips. After a few light kisses, she broke away, and after gazing once more into his eyes, she leaned her forehead down on his shoulder and put her arms around his torso. She felt his lips turn and press a kiss to her neck as he lightly held her, rubbing circles on her back. All she could think of was...wow. She didn't even really know what she was feeling, or why she was feeling it, but the word 'wow' just kind of summed it up for her.

She pulled back and looked at him again. "Rick?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think you'd mind if I...stayed with you again...like last night? I mean, all of my clothes are still in your room, and-"

A smile overtook his face at her suggestion, and he interrupted her, but played along with her 'logic'. "It would be a real shame to have to haul everything back to your room tonight, since it's so late?"

"Uh huh." Neither of them remarked that it was barely nine-thirty at night.

"And you still need some help getting around?"

"Uh huh." Neither of them remarked that she had the walking stick to use now.

"Well, if the truth be told, I'm still a little cold from all of that snowblowing before, so I could really use someone to spoon with, to help warm me up, if you think that would be okay."

"Uh huh." Neither of them remarked that he could just turn the fireplace up a little higher for added warmth.

"I guess I'm getting kind of tired. Should we go upstairs?"

"Uh huh."

He helped her up and then couldn't resist asking her, "Beckett? Can you say anything besides 'uh huh'?"

She smiled up at him, all relaxed from the wine that his mother had given her. "Castle?"

"Uh huh?" he joked.

"I like your voice."

"Thanks. I like yours too. We make a good team."

"That we do," she responded as he helped her hop toward the stairs.

* * *

_**That's it for now. People have said that they wanted to hear what Martha was doing, so I thought I'd have her make an appearance in this chapter. Hope I got the dialog right. And of course, she's still trying to be the spying Cupid. **_

_**And for those of you who also follow 'The Plan', there is something in this chapter that ties in with something in chapter 59 of that story. The references in each story point to the same thing. I didn't plan it that way (no pun intended), but when I realized the commonality, I thought I'd see if you all could figure it out too. Don't want to tell you exactly what it is b/c I think that would be too easy. If anyone gets it, I'll figure out a little prize for you (just the first one though!). **_

_**I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! Come on, I want to hear from you...yes, you!**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Hi all!**_

_**First, I posted a challenge of sorts at the end of the last chapter for those of you who are also following 'The Plan'. Although I posted it on my twitter account, I'll tell you here too: Charlie O'Kelley got the connection first, which was the movie "Ghost". In 'The Plan,' she said "Ditto", which was how Sam always said ILY to Molly. And of course, in the last chapter of Blizzard, the duet was 'Unchained Melody' which was the theme song of the movie.**_

_**I'm not sure if I like this chapter. It was hard for me to write. I knew where I wanted to go, but the words just wouldn't flow. But I didn't want to keep you wating any longer, so here it is.**_

_**Disclaimer: the usual.**_

* * *

_Previously:_

_The power was on. Castle put some smelly herbal remedy on Beckett's sprained ankle to help with the swelling and it worked. He plowed some of the driveway with the snowblower and Kate and Martha started singing karaoke and drinking wine. Castle came in and joined them, and then Martha got them to sing a duet together. She retired to her room after taking a picture of them, and then Kate sort of suggested that she spend the night in his room again, and Castle certainly had no problem with that. _

_(You know, personally I thought the chapter itself sounded a lot better than my recap. ;-) A LOT less dry.)_

The morning light filtered around the edges of the curtains in the bedroom. Kate registered the increased level of light through her eyelids, but she didn't feel like getting up yet so she just tried to snuggle deeper into her pillow. But her pillow was a little more unyielding than it normally was. And it was...heated. And then she remembered. She remembered singing a duet with Castle. A love song, of all things! And then...she stifled a groan as she remembered suggesting to him that she spend the night in his bedroom again. _She_ suggested it to _him_! Talk about breaking her own rules!

But she made herself relax. It was done. There was nothing she could do about it now. And, if she was honest with herself, she would have to admit that she enjoyed the evening, despite the smelly thing on her ankle, even though it did work as far as reducing the swelling. And even though she had earlier vowed to Castle that she wouldn't be staying in his room-with him-another night, that resolve had been short-lived. And because she was being honest with herself now, she would have to admit that where she was right now-snuggled up against Castle's warm body with her head on the pillow right next to his-was awfully comfortable, and she was actually secretly glad to be right where she was.

She laid there, dozing lightly, hugging his arm, feeling his chest move as he took slow breaths in his sleep. Contentment wasn't something she normally felt, but she felt it now. It was a nice feeling. At least until he jerked in his sleep. His movement made her brace her hand on his chest and raise up to look at him. At her touch, his eyes flew open, and he looked at her in puzzlement. He slowly reached out a hand and touched her face. "Kate?" he asked.

"Uh huh." The words seemed to jog something in his memory and a slow smile creeped onto his face. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"No. Never. Just wanted to make sure it was really you and not some exceptionally vivid dream designed by the dream gods to torture me."

"Dream gods?"

"You know, when you have a really good dream, and it seems so real, and then you wake up and you realize it was all a dream. And you can't stop thinking about it for hours because it was so amazing. Dream gods. They really like to mess with you."

She smiled. "I'll take your word on that."

"So, do I have any hope of getting a good morning kiss?" he asked with a cocky grin.

She looked up in the air, as if to think about his question. She couldn't make it too easy for him. "Well, since you let me use you as a body pillow slash heating pad all night, I suppose I could spare one."

"Only one?"

As she leaned into his lips, she purred, "Castle, don't you know by now that it's not about quantity. It's _quality_ that counts."

As her lips met his, the only thought in his brain was that the quality of this kiss-and the woman kissing him-was off the charts.

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Some time later, after the mini-make-out-session that the simple good morning kiss turned into, they each showered and dressed for the day. Castle, of course, offered to help Kate in the shower, which she politely declined after one of her infamous eyerolls. She shooed Castle out of the bathroom and luxuriated in his wonderful shower just a bit longer than she had the day before. When she got out, she wrapped herself in one of his thick towels and rummaged around in her suitcase for something to wear. She found a new bra and panties and put them on after drying herself off, and she also found her iPod. Deciding to listen to some music while she dried her hair and put her makeup on, she popped the noise-cancelling earbuds into her ears and turned the iPod on shuffle. After putting the discarded towel onto the vanity, she hopped up to sit on it, crossing her bad leg over her good one, while she combed out her hair. She put on her makeup first, and then grabbed her hairdryer and began to finger-comb the long strands of her hair in the back of her head as she put the dryer on a low setting and ran it over the damp strands.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He needed a shower too, when she was done in his bathroom, so he could get her to the emergency room to have that ankle checked out. He figured that she should be almost done, so he started gathering some clothes that he could take into the bathroom with him, to put on after his shower. He stripped his shirt and sweatshirt off and put them in the hamper. He almost took off his pants, but he figured that Kate wouldn't appreciate that too much. But none of that took very long, so he sat down on the bed to wait and he checked his email on his phone. After several minutes of waiting, he could tell that the shower had stopped but he still heard the fan running. Then he really thought about it, and he realized that she'd been in there for quite a while, and he started to get worried. She hadn't taken nearly this long to shower yesterday. Thoughts began to run wild through his mind as he wondered if something was wrong. Maybe she'd slipped and had hit her head when she fell, and was now passed out or disoriented. So he knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he knocked again and said "Beckett?"

When there was still no answer except for the light hum of the fan through the thick wooden door, his mind started conjuring up more scenarios in which she was hurt. He started to get more anxious. Her ankle still had some swelling. Could there be a blood clot? What if she threw an embolism and it traveled to her brain and caused a seizure or something? Or a stroke? She was young, but with an injury... He knocked again. "Kate. Kate are you okay in there?" When he waited several more seconds and there was no answer, he said, more to himself, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope you have clothes on because I'm coming in."

And he opened the door and he just about swallowed his tongue at what he saw.

Kate was perched on his bathroom vanity, her bad leg crossed over the knee of the good leg, wearing nothing but a black bra and panties. And from what he could see, a very alluring black bra and panties. She had her arms both raised above her head, and one hand was slowly combing through strands of damp hair while the other hand pointed a hairdryer at the hair she was lifting. The position of her arms naturally made her back arch and her chest jut out just a bit, making her pose very sexy. But still, it didn't appear that she saw him; her eyes were closed and he briefly registered the cords of the earbuds coming from her ears as he could see that she was gently moving her scantily clad body in time to whatever music she happened to be listening to.

And he could only stare and gape at the vision in front of him as he felt an immediate jolt in his groin area.

But with the unusual connection that they had between them, it didn't take long for Kate to sense something different, and she opened her eyes casually. But then her eyes got as big as saucers when she realized that Castle was standing there, in the doorway, gaping at her in her barely dressed state. And his saucer-eyes matched her saucer-eyes as they stared at each other. Then, as if someone had flicked a lightswitch, Kate came to life, unconsciously turning off the hairdryer and pulling one of the earbuds from her ear as she grabbed for a towel from the rack to cover herself. She hastily put it in front of her to shield her body from his gawking eyes, and she hopped down from the vanity in preparation for walking over to him and...doing something to let him know she was _not_ happy that he had come in.

But in her shock, she forgot all about her ankle, and when she hopped down, she put just enough weight on it that she pulled it up and gasped in shock at the pain. She involuntarily fell forward, dropping the towel she was using to shield herself, and landed in Castle's waiting arms.

When she sprang into action, Rick had instinctively stepped forward toward her, and he was glad that he did as she evidently forgot that she didn't really have a fully-functioning ankle as she hopped off the vanity and tried to stalk toward him, trying to cover herself with the towel. But she dropped the towel as she fell, and he caught her and ended up pulling her to him, helping to support her until she got her balance. But because of her forward motion and his catch, she ended up being pressed against his bare chest, his arm around her back, encircling her around the bare skin of her back.

"Geez, Beckett, what are you trying to do?"

"Me? I'm not the one who barged in on someone after a shower!"

"Barge in? I called you! I knocked on the door and I called you a whole bunch of times and you didn't answer. I got worried so I came in!

She tried to feel for her iPod which was now hanging between them from the one earbud that remained in her ear after she'd taken the one out. But she realized that she couldn't really feel for the iPod with her hands because they were on Castle's upper arms. Muscular upper arms. Bare upper arms. And then she glanced down at him, and she realized that he didn't have a shirt on. And neither did she. And that she was pressed against him very...intimately, as he tried to hold her up after she'd tried to step on her bad foot.

After his declaration about being worried about her, after it registered in her brain, she shook her head at him. "I'm fine. Didn't you hear the hair dryer?" Her voice had dropped to a very low volume, no longer shouting at him, because now that she realized the position that they were in, she was busy enough trying to maintain some semblance of control and detatchment.

"No. I mean yes. I thought it was the fan. And you didn't answer." His voice was also low, as he, too, tried to not think about the goddess in his arms, wearing very little in the way of clothing. He tried to match her tone and her topic of conversation, her attitude of ignoring that their torsos were basically pressed skin to skin against each other.

"I didn't hear you. I was listening to my iPod."

"I see that now," he told her as his other hand, not the one encircling her back, came up and pulled the one earbud out of her ear. He draped the cord over her shoulder, and then put that hand on her bare shoulder, massaging it lightly. "Kate..." he said, his voice breaking on her name as his eyes bored into hers. The heat from his hand seemed like it was searing a brand into her shoulder.

She was losing the battle of control, and it snapped as soon he said her name. She felt her head tilting up and leaning toward his. When she did that, she saw his eyes flutter to look down at her lips, and then back up into her eyes. And when he saw her lean just a little closer to him, his control went the same way as hers as he leaned forward until their lips met.

But their lips had barely touched when he pulled away and looked up at the ceiling, squeezing his eyes shut. "Kate," he said, exhaling a deep breath. "Rules..."

That one word stunned her back to reality. Rules. Her rules. She wanted to tell her rules to go to hell right now. But she knew she'd put them there for a reason, so that she didn't make a mistake, a big mistake. So as much she might want to break her rules, she knew she couldn't; not yet. It was hard, when she was standing there in such a compromising position, pressed against him, wearing next to nothing. It was so hard when right then, she _really_ wanted to break some of those rules.

He pulled away from her briefly, looking around the room, and then down. He unwrapped himself from around her and, still holding her arm to make sure she could still balance, bent down to pick up the towel she had dropped. He held it up in front of her and gently pulled on her arm to urge her to take a few hops to the chair that was still in the bathroom, all the while trying not to look at her. She sat down on the chair and grabbed the towel to hold in front of her once again.

"Castle..." she started, trying to get him to look at her again. When he didn't, she told him again, "Look at me, Castle."

She could see that he didn't really want to look at her. So she reached up and touched his face, and as soon as she did that, his eyes flew to hers. "Thank you," she told him softly.

"For what?"

"For stopping. Lately, I don't seem to have a lot of self control around you. I don't know why."

He gave her an endearing half-smile. "My rugged good looks and irresistable charm?"

She rolled her eyes, just because that was what she did when he made comments like that.

"And," he continued, "thanks for not killing me when I walked in on you."

"Oh, believe me, I was going to, but my ankle had other ideas."

"Then my very alive body thanks your ankle for not letting the rest of you kill me."

But she had to let him know. "Really, though, Castle, thanks. I know the situation was...one that could have gotten out of hand pretty fast. And you were the voice of reason, which is something that I never would have expected. I'm impressed, Castle."

"I had an ulterior motive, you know." At her raised eyebrow, he continued by telling her simply. "I want that date."

"The date?"

"When we get back to New York. I want that date that you promised me if I played by the rules."

"So you turned down the almost sure thing a couple of minutes ago for...the promise of dinner?" She sounded somewhat puzzled. At the mention of the words 'sure thing', his eyebrows went up.

"I didn't give it up at all. Kate, you know that you might have been caught up in the moment, but you would have regretted it later. We're not there yet. So we're going to keep going like we have been, and I'm not going to break any rules and you're going to go out with me, for real, when we get back. And then we're going to see where it goes. Because I think it'll be pretty awesome."

"Really..." She was somewhat amazed at his conviction.

"Yes, really. But I do have to ask one favor of you."

"What?"

"You really need to get dressed. Because I need a shower and I will NOT be able to shower with you in here or I'm quite certain that all rules will get broken very quickly. And that we will be in this bathroom together for a _very_ long time if that happens. So...I'm leaving, now that I'm satisfied that you haven't had an embolism."

Her brows furrowed as she tried to figure out what he meant. "An embolism?" she asked.

"Never mind," he said as he walked out. "Just get dressed."

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A long three hours later, they sat in the curtained-off cubicle in the emergency room listening to the doctor after he looked at the x-rays. Rick wished that he'd had his phone out to take a camera, because the shock on her face as the doctor talked to her was priceless. She was _not_ happy.

"FOUR WEEKS? What do you mean, four weeks?" Rick felt a little bit sorry for the doctor, but the man looked like he could hold his own, even against Kate.

"Yes, approximately four weeks, give or take a week. Ma'am, you're very lucky that your ankle wasn't broken. But the swelling that's still there from...what? A day and a half ago? That means that it wasn't a minor sprain. I'm hopeful that you didn't actually tear any ligaments and only stretched them, but still, those stretches will take a while to heal. Your regular doctor may want you to have an MRI to check for tears if the ankle doesn't seem to improve."

"But what about my job? I'm a police detective! This just won't work!"

"You'll have to be on desk duty for a while, obviously. And you can do anything that doesn't involve any walking, running or driving. Well, you'll be able to walk on it before you can run and drive, but the point is to not overdo it."

"Driving? Walking and running I can understand, but why can't I drive?" Her voice was starting to go up and she sounded tense.

"It's your right leg. You shouldn't drive until you can put full weight on your leg. And right now, you're going to get in the habit of babying it, whether you intentionally do it or not. So your reaction time for driving will be off too, and that could be dangerous." The doctor paused an looked at his notes. "We'll send you home with some crutches. Until you see your own doctor, don't try to bear any weight. But you _can_ do some light range of motion exercises, just to keep the joint limber. I'll have the nurse print out some instructions for you. Any other questions?"

Kate shook her head no, and just sat there looking annoyed while the doctor when to arrange for crutches and the exercises. Rick put his arm around her and lightly caressed her back. "Not what you wanted to hear, is it?"

"I don't get hurt very much, and I'm in reasonably good shape, so I'm just not used to being...incapacitated. And then to be looking at four weeks of this? It's frustrating."

"But look at the bright side. You have me to keep you company!" he told her with even more than his normal amount of exhuberance.

She rolled her eyes again, and then looked at him earnestly. "For the next couple of days, anyway. Castle, I'm stunned enough at this without having to worry about you. Can you please promise to be good?"

He leaned over and gave her a kiss, and then leaned his forehead against hers. "Anything. Just tell me what you want and I'll do it."

"Make my ankle be normal again," she quipped.

"Except that."

"Darn." She put her hand on his leg and squeezed his knee. "But thanks anyway."

"It's the thought that counts," he agreed, smiling at her again. "And you do have my thoughts. You always have my thoughts."

* * *

_**Well, that's it. If you really hated it, try to take pity on me. **_

_**I googled a lot of the stuff about sprained ankles. But the general consensus was that a moderate sprain takes several weeks to heal, so she's going to be out of commission for a while. Could be interesting...**_

_**So...thoughts? Remember, go easy on me.**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**Well, here's the next installment. It hasn't been a full week yet, so that's a good thing, right? This chapter is shorter than I usually do them, but I've noticed lately that a lot of authors seem to do chapters that are really short (to me, anyway); where they sometimes barely even fill up the screen on my laptop. So is that the trend? I don't know. But I hope you like it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. **_

* * *

Kate was insane.

Rick couldn't really figure it out. Well, he could, once he thought about it, but it was still really a strange thing to behold.

And he was convinced that she was going to pay for her insanity in the morning.

She didn't take the doctor's news well. As soon as he heard the diagnosis-FOUR weeks!-he'd known it would be a problem. Kate was used to being on-the-go, under no restrictions, and to be told that she couldn't be...well, that would just not go over well. He'd known it, and he'd been correct. At first, she'd expressed her displeasure, and, somewhat, her disbelief in the doctor's diagnosis. Then she just steeled her expression, accepted the crutches and the detailed instructions, and had crutch-limped her way out of the ER with a look on her face that said, 'Thank you very much, but frankly, I don't think you know what you're talking about because *I* am different and I'll do what I want.'

They were back at his house now, and she'd spent the first thirty minutes hobbling around the house on her crutches. And not sporadic hobbling either-she'd been a crutch-assisted whirlwind of perpetual motion. As soon as she came into the house, she crutch-hopped over to the closet and hung up her coat. Then she crutch-hopped into the kitchen and got herself a can of soda out of the refrigerator, politely asking him if he wanted one too. He followed her and took it from her after she'd taken a sip by the refrigerator, because he was sure there was no way she could possibly carry it, with her crutches, without spilling it. She let him take it from her, although the action did earn him an original Beckett interrogation-style glare. But she didn't say anything. Instead, she put a smile on her face and said, "I think I'll go explore, if that's okay. I feel like moving around a bit."

And explore she did. She found some of the rooms at the back of his house that he hadn't shown her yet, like the gym. He tried to give her space, but when he found her, she was working on one of the weight machines, doing some lat pulldowns. She just smiled at him, and grabbed her crutches as she got up, crutch-hopping past him as she went in search of her next adventure in what appeared to be the Castle amusement house.

He met her back in the kitchen, where she was taking a few more drinks out of the soda she'd opened earlier. "I'm going to have another look at your library. Maybe I can do a little reading." And she took off on the crutches.

He shook his head at her newly-found energy, probably borne of restlessness, and decided to snitch a little bite of the remaining pan cookie, so he was a minute or two behind her getting to the library. And he also didn't want her to think that he was following her around, like he was waiting to catch her in case she fell or something. Of course, that what he really _was_ trying to do, but she didn't need to know that, and he was trying not to be _too_ obvious. But when he finally did get to the library, his breath caught in his throat at what he saw. Beckett was on his ladder! She was looking at books on one of his upper shelves, and she was perched on his _ladder!_

"Geez, Beckett," he exclaimed, rushing toward her. "What is it about you doing crazy things in this library, huh?" he asked, referring to the fact that she sustained the original injury in that very room.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm perfectly fine, Castle. I just wanted to see what you had up high, and it's not like I can jump or anything."

"I could have gotten you a book down. Any book. You just have to ask."

"Why would I want to ask you do to what I'm perfectly capable of doing for myself. See?" Then, before he could stop her, she grabbed both hands on the rung above her and simultaneously pulled with her hands as she gave a little jump with her good foot, effectively boosting herself up to the next highest rung.

At her acrobatic maneuver, he stepped forward again, and imagined that he sounded like a stuttering Roscoe P. Coltrane from the old Dukes of Hazzard TV show when he muttered, "Gee...ooo...ah...don...no...oh..._Beckett_!" But she was up on that next step before he even finished with his litany of monosyllabic grunts, and was currently staring at him with a bemused smile on her face.

"What's with you, Castle? You're usually much more eloquent in your spoken word."

"Are you trying to be a peg-legged Spiderwoman or something?" he said in a somewhat loud, but very exasperated voice.

"Castle, the doctor never said that I couldn't climb a ladder, just that I couldn't drive or put any weight on my foot. And I didn't do either of those things." She smiled at him serenely, but it had a certain smugness to it.

"Beckett, the doctor also never said that you shouldn't build a snowman or go ice skating or go jumping around on a pogo stick. But that doesn't mean you should do any of those things," he countered.

"I would think that someone who is fond of bending the rules to suit himself on a regular basis could appreciate my bit of logic." Now her voice was getting a bit louder too, or maybe just more stern, as she refuted his point.

"But there's no point to it, and you could hurt yourself more!"

"But you know what, Castle? It felt good. It felt good to do something for myself after the last day and a half of having to rely on someone else for almost everything!" When she ended her confession, her voice had risen out of the stern range, and had achieved the minimum level of the shouting threshold.

If he had been an impartial observer, he might have laughed at the role reversal that had come about, as he had become the cautious, reasonable one and she had become the risk-taker, defying orders (so to speak) and pushing the limits. "Kate, you are seriously starting to annoy me! Now let's get you down from there!" he told her, in a take-charge voice, moving his hands to her waist like he was going to help her down from the ladder.

But she swatted them away. "No!" she shouted at him. "I'm perfectly fine the way I am! Maybe I want to look a little bit more up here! And like I said, it _feels good _to be up here, to be _doing_ something for myself! And not thinking about my freaking ankle and what it _can't_ do for God knows how long!"

He ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. "Fine!" he shouted at her. "You want to do something that feels good? You want to forget about your ankle? Then let's go have sex!"

The silence that filled the room after his last shouted statement was deafening. She could feel the weight of that silence pressing down on her from all directions. The words were heavy with not innuendo, but a direct statement, a direct suggestion with no sugar-coating. And she also felt the jolt in her body as her brain really registered the thoughts that his words had evoked.

And, God help her, the thought was extremely enticing.

But she recovered quickly, because that's what she did. "Sex? God, Castle!" She managed to speak, but she still wasn't quite up to forming an acerbic comeback after the shock of that remark.

"Sure, Beckett, why not? I guarantee you _will_ feel good,"-she had no doubt about _that_, she found herself thinking traitorously-"and it will certainly take your mind off your ankle! So if you want to prove something, let's just go for broke then, huh?" His voice was still loud and held the tone of a challenge, although he never, ever intended it as a serious challenge, merely as a wake up call that she needed to slow down.

But she didn't take it that way. "Oh, sure, Castle! I'll just hop right down from this ladder and we'll go have wild sex in your room right now!" she shouted back at him, trying to put as much sarcasm into her tone as she could muster.

The blood was already pounding in his head from the argument-when had they really started arguing...weren't they just talking normally as he followed her from room to room as she hobbled on her crutches?-but when he heard her words, registered her words, the blood sort of left his brain somehow, leaving him almost lightheaded. What did she just say? Sex. Yes. With him. Was she serious? He hadn't really been serious, he'd just wanted to shock her, but then she answered... Oh, my God.

But he never got a chance to ask her, because a voice from behind him startled him out of the stupor induced by his words. He slowly turned toward the voice as he watched his mother breeze into the room and stand midway in between Kate and him, as Kate's eyes flitted to the newcomer into the room and got big as she realized that there was no way that Martha could _not_ have heard what she'd said.

Once again, his mother's timing was impeccably awful.

She looked at Kate first, with a very schooled, very serious expression on her face that she was only able to achieve from decades performing in the theater. "Well, dear, I don't really know about you hopping down from there, but having wild sex sounds like a wonderful pastime for a lazy, cold, wintery afternoon. Oh, those were the days..." she trailed off, growing nostalgic. "However," she then said, turning toward her son, "Alexis just called my phone because you wouldn't answer yours."

He slapped his hand on his phone in his pocket. "I turned the ringer off...emergency room...Beckett..." he stammered.

She waved him off. "Whatever, dear. But the point is that she needs you to go pick her up at Julia's house. So if you two want to go have wild sex after you get home, Richard, that's fine," she told them, turning to leave, "but please, do try to be quiet and discreet about it...we don't want to scar Alexis for life, you know." And with that comment, she breezed out of the room, just as quickly as she breezed in.

And even though it was the last place each of them wanted to look, they both found that their gazes locked on the other's face after watching Martha's exit from the room. Both of them had, for the second time that day, wide saucer-eyes, and their mouths dropped open into a position that was commonly referred to as 'catching flies'.

After several seconds of just staring at each other, they both found the need so say something. Rick went first. "I'm just going to...go...find her," he said, still stunned by the interruption. "My daughter. Alexis. God, that was awkward. Kate..."

She shook her head. "No, Castle, just go. Go get her. I'll just stay here and...drown myself in your hot tub or something." She didn't know if she'd ever been so embarrassed in all of her life. To make a comment about having wild sex with the man that you were...she didn't even know what they were. Oh, brother. And then to have his mother walk into the room during said comment...well, to say that she wanted to crawl in a hole and decompose for the next hundred or so years would be an extreme understatement to how she felt right now.

"Kate..." he said, feeling the need to talk, to clarify. "I didn't really mean...I know it...but then she...oh, crap."

"Yeah. Oh, crap pretty much sums it up. Just go, Rick. Pick up Alexis, and then maybe we can work on some more french when you guys come back. We...me and Alexis, _not_ me and you."

"Kate..."

"No, Castle, just go. Please, just go."

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_**Well, it seems that whenver I say I don't like a chapter, like the last one, everyone else says that they really like it. Whew! So I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that I really liked this one, with the frustrated shouting match and the 'have sex' comments. And, of course, Martha. For being in the theater, you'd think her timing would be better. Or maybe, it actually really is quite good the way it is...(cue the evil laugh here).**_

_**So, I hope you liked it. Let me know, huh? Click the review button down there and type something. Hopefully something positive. I really LOVE to read those reviews. **_

_**And to all of you moms...happy Mother's Day!**_


	23. Chapter 23

_**Thanks, everyone, for being patient with me while I got this chapter written and posted. If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen that I posted a note about the delay; I had knee surgery five days ago and thus the writing has been pushed to the back burner for a little bit. This story took a bit more of an update hit because the last two updates I made before the surgery were for 'The Plan'. Some of you may recall in an earlier a/n how I said I hurt my leg once (end of ch 13; explanation for the chair in the bathroom). Well, the surgery that I just had was the end result of that injury. So let's just say that for me, the bathroom has become an even more interesting experience now. :-o**_

_**So anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and I hope the delay hasn't frustrated anyone to the point of ditching the entire story. The usual disclaimers apply: I don't own any of the characters.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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_Previously__: Kate got crutches and she was being rather daring with some new-found independence, to the point of climbing a ladder in the library. She said she liked to be able to do things for herself, and it felt good. They got into an argument about her taking it easy, and Castle tried to shock her by telling her they should just go have sex, because that would feel good too, then she tried to shock him back by yelling that same thing back to him, that they should go have wild sex, just as Martha walked into the room to tell him that Alexis needed to be picked up from her friend's house. Cue a very uncomfortable moment._

Kate watched Castle reluctantly leave the room, only after giving her a couple of loaded glances. She knew he didn't want to leave right away. It was obvious he had more to say, but she wasn't in the mood for it right now, after she'd made a supreme mess of things. So she gave him a steely look and he finally retreated. Once he was out of the room, she leaned her head forward on one of the rungs of the ladder she was still perched on. After a few calming breaths, she opened her eyes and looked around the room. For the first time, she noticed how high off the ground she was. Stupid. She had a sprained ankle...she couldn't put weight on it without having intense pain, and she was told _not_ to put weight on it until she could have it checked out by her own doctor...she should not be climbing on ladders. Castle was right.

She just hated admitting that, and she absolutely hated feeling beholden to him for him having to do the simple things for her that she should be able to do for herself. He invited her here and then she had to go hurt herself, necessitating that he practically had to wait on her because she couldn't move around decently. She should at least be...oh, helping with dinner or doing dishes or...something. Anything. Her mother had taught her about being a gracious guest in someone's home-pick up after yourself, don't complain and offer to help out where you can. It didn't involve taking over the host's personal bedroom and bathroom and making him wait on you. Or yelling at the host about physical limitations that you brought on yourself by being stupid. Well, at least she'd managed to help him figure out the snowblower before she was hurt. But now...now she was useless. And bitchy. And, thinking back to what Martha had overheard, she was really, really embarrassed.

Heaving a sigh of frustration, she eased herself down to the floor and grabbed her crutches, thoughts of getting a book forgotten. As much as she didn't want to, she moved out of the library to see if she could figure out where Martha had gone. She needed to apologize. She hobbled out into the large living room and found Martha gazing at a fashion magazine. The older woman didn't look up as Kated hobbled closer, and as she sat down opposite Martha, Martha looked up at Kate with a smile on her face and shook her head ruefully.

Martha held up the magazine in one hand as if to make a point. "I swear that some of these people must be sipping the happy juice when they design some of these things. Now, I _am_ in the theater and we, as a lot, are about as grand as grand can get. But some of these ensembles are...simply dreadful. I mean, look at this," she said as she leaned forward, thrusting the magazine toward Kate as she pointed at a picture. "Isn't this the epitome of bad taste? I mean, it's drab, it's shapeless...frankly, someone would have done better cutting holes in a burlap sack. At least the texture of the burlap would add some interest to the piece. And that handbag? Not in a million years."

Kate glanced at the magazine, and she had to admit that Martha did have a point. The dress was indeed awful. "Hideous," she agreed.

"Glad you think so, dear. And believe me, I could tell if you were lying just to try to get on my good side. And Lord knows, with that figure of yours, you could certainly make even that dress look amazing. But then, look at this one," she said, flipping a few pages and then showing the magazine to Kate again, displaying an elegant emerald green dress with just enough simplicity to make it serenely regal and just enough panache to make it stand out. "Now _that_ would look remarkable on you. That designer knows what he's doing, not like that other wannabe. This one...oh, kiddo, you would make my son's eyes fall out of his head if he saw you in that. Put your hair up in a messy 'do...my goodness, that boy would be speechless."

Kate was somewhat stunned. She had, not fifteen minutes before, made a very loud offhand comment about having wild sex with Castle, a move for which she was still thoroughly embarrassed, and now his mother was talking about dressing her up like a Barbie Doll and presenting her to the aforementioned son. "Uh, Martha," she started.

"Yes, dear? Don't tell me you don't like the color. It would be simply stunning on you. Richard really should order that dress for you. I'll have to give him the name of the designer. What size are you, dear? Maybe a four, or a two?"

Buy her a designer dress? "No! I mean...Martha...no! He can't buy me a dress!"

"You don't like the color." She sounded defeated.

"No! The color is wonderful...beautiful. But...we're not...he can't just buy me a dress!"

"Why not? From comments that I've heard," she started, and Kate knew without a doubt that Martha was talking about her library comment, "I would suspect that you two are more than friends, and I happen to know that he would have no qualms about buying it for you. And he certainly has the means. So, kiddo, I say...let him!" She punctuated her statement with a quick nod to her head as she pointed at Kate

Oh, this was getting worse, Kate thought. Not only did Castle's mother hear the 'wild sex' comment, but now she was talking like Kate was Castle's latest 'bimbette of the week'. She knew she had to take the bull by the horns before she chickened out. "Martha, I know you heard the comment in the library. And I can't apologize enough fof that. I...it's really embarrassing. I didn't mean to say it. It was very inappropriate of me, and I'm very sorry."

Martha looked at her and shook her head. "Really, Detective. You're both consenting adults. It's obvious that there's something between the two of you, and there has been for quite a while." Kate was stunned by her last words. Obvious? Quite a while? "So please, don't worry about it."

Kate took a deep breath. "Martha, please let me explain. Not that there's any excuse, but I want to try to let you see where I'm coming from." Not knowing where to begin, she grasped the first thing that came to her mind. "I'm useless."

Martha blinked at her, not understanding what she meant. "Excuse me, dear?"

"I haven't been a very good guest, and I'm so sorry about that. I came along to help Alexis with her french, but she hasn't been here and instead of doing something useful, I manage to get hurt. I can face murderers, I can outrun a suspect in a dirty alley in heels. But I trip and fall in a house when I'm someone's guest for the weekend? That's pathetic. And I can't do anything with this stupid ankle. I couldn't help with anything, and then Cas...uh, Rick had to take care of me. I mean, he was waiting on me! And then I thank him by getting into a shouting match with him. And then you overheard what I said..." she trailed off, and dropped her face into her hands in a sign of frustration.

"Pshh!" Martha waved a dismissive hand at her. "Kate, dear, you're a smart girl. So I'm sure that you certainly didn't try to hurt yourself. Accidents happen. At least no criminal got away, right?" She slapped her leg and gave Kate a little wink; leave it to Martha to try to find the bright side. Then her voice lowered and she leaned forward a bit, as if she was sharing a secret. "And if you ask me, you couldn't have picked a better place to hurt yourself if you'd tried. Because if I know my son, and I think I do, I would say that you being anything resembling a burden is the farthest thing from his mind right now. In fact, the man is probably in seventh heaven. Well, not because of you hurting yourself, but for the fact that he _does_ get to help you."

Kate looked up from her hands, not understanding what Martha was trying to say. "I'm not following you, Martha."

"_You_ may not feel useful, but _he_ does. He can help you. He can really help you now, and you need help. It makes him feel needed, and he loves that he can be useful to you, and he can do things for you. You're so self-sufficient that you don't normally need him, and you get by just fine without him." She reached over and put her hand briefly on Kate's arm. "Kate, dear, Richard cares for you. And when he cares for people, he likes to be able to _take_ care of them. You need it now, at least a little bit. So even though it goes against your grain, just try to enjoy it, okay?"

Kate sighed. "There's not much else I can do, is there?"

Martha smiled at her. "Kiddo, I think this is one of those times when the old saying _'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' _comes into play. No matter how much you wish it, that ankle isn't going to miraculously heal overnight. You need a little help, and you have someone who wants to give you that help. Take it. I guarantee you he doesn't mind in the least. It's a win-win situation for both of you."

Kate ran her hands through her hair. Martha was right...there wasn't much she could do about the ankle. So as much as it might infuriate her to be at less than one hundred percent, she'd just have to suck it up and admit that there were certain things that she couldn't do for a while. She looked at Martha, who had gone back to perusing the magazine in a casual way, but nevertheless, Kate saw through it as a way that the older woman was just giving her a chance to think things through.

But despite Martha's reassurances, Kate felt she had to try her apology one more time. "Okay, Martha, I'll try to...let him help me and not get annoyed about it. But please, please know how sorry I am about that comment that you overheard. I...it was kind of a 'heat of the moment' type of thing, and he had just mentioned...uh, sex, and so I just went a little further with what he said. But I was out of line by that point and I was yelling, and I'm so sorry. Not just for saying it, but that you had to hear it."

Martha leaned forward again, and if Kate wasn't mistaken, it almost seemed that the older woman had somewhat of a smirk on her face. "It seems that you think I should be offended by what I heard, but I'm not. Not in the least. Kiddo, the looks on both of your faces after your comment were quite priceless, but then when you both saw me? If not for my considerable acting talent, I might have burst out laughing at the sight of the both of you."

Although still somewhat mortified, Kate was now also intrigued. Laughing? "Martha?" she managed to say.

"Yes, dear. I found the whole thing quite comical. It really would make a good scene in a comedy play, you know. And I should apologize to you; the comment that I made about keeping the noise down lest you scar Alexis...well, that was mainly for Richard's benefit. I like to, oh, yank his chain every now and again. Because despite the rather unprudish image he maintains, he's quite protective of her and anything to do with her and...what do you kids call it...'the big nasty' or something?...just gets him stuttering. And that is _such_ a sight to behold. But I'm sorry that it made _you_ uncomfortable."

Mildly relieved at the older woman's admission, Kate thought back to one of the first times Rick checked in with Alexis at her friend's house, when they'd been talking about co-ed slumber parties and his imagination had run away with him. "Yes," she agreed with Martha. "I've seen a little of what you mean. He does tend to jump to conclusions pretty quickly. It's pretty funny to watch the switch in his attitude between himself and Alexis. His fatherly side is really sweet, but you're right, it really is in contrast with his lifestyle."

Martha held up a hand. "Image, dear."

Kate just looked at her, puzzled by her words. "What?"

"You said his lifestyle. But really, his actual lifestyle, at least these past few years," Martha told her with a raised eyebrow, "is different than the image he maintains." Then she added softly, but meaningfully, "And I hope you're beginning to see that." Martha's gaze held a sort of a challenge to it.

Kate's mind flashed to a cookie dough fight in his kitchen, then to laying in a bed and just _talking_ with him until the wee hours of the morning, then to being pressed up against him after her shower that morning, wearing next to nothing, and him being the one to stop anything from happening rather than going with the very strong impulses that they were both feeling then. She met Martha's gaze, understanding the older woman's challenge to see more of what there was of Richard Castle, underneath the image. It was much the same thing that the man himself had told her when they agreed to give their...thing a weekend trial, right before the power went out. So when she looked at Martha, she nodded her head slightly as she resolutely told her, "I am seeing that."

And Martha, wise woman that she was, simply gave Kate a nod of her own with a smug little smile, and went back to looking at the latest fashion trends. And although it certainly wasn't the way that Kate had thought their talk would go, she was quickly learning that things usually didn't go the direction you thought they would, once Martha Rodgers was involved.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A short time later, Kate heard a door open and shortly after that, saw Alexis quietly enter the room. "Darling!" Martha exclaimed. "How was your little getaway?"

The younger redhead went over to give the older redhead a kiss on her cheek. "Hi, Grams. It was fun. But that," she said, looking at Kate and gesturing toward the swollen ankle she had propped up on the table, "doesn't look fun at all. Geez, Gram, you were supposed to be supervising Dad, not letting him temporarily cripple Kate."

Kate interjected, "Alexis, no, it was totally my own fault. Your dad didn't have anything to do with it. And he's been really good about taking care of me." After the last admission, she shared a quick, knowing look with Martha, a look that didn't go unnoticed by the sharp Alexis.

But the girl didn't say anything, and instead asked, "Well then why is he acting so guilty? After we got in the car and I asked how you were doing, he did the sad puppy-dog face thing, you know...like when he wants more ice cream. But I don't think he's being dramatic now. So I thought he must have done something dad-like and caused you to fall or something, so he's feeling guilty." Alexis leaned forward toward Kate and said in a stage whisper, "He doesn't always think things through, you know. And sometimes we get some disastrous results."

"Like not tying his swim trunks when he was tubing, and mooning your friends?"

The girl smiled, but then rolled her eyes. "Exactly."

"Well, don't worry. This was all me. We were playing laser tag after the power went out and I ran into the library. But I forgot about the sunken part of the room and I ended up falling and rolling my ankle."

"_You_ were playing laser tag?" The girl looked surprised.

"Thought I'd give it a try. And you'll be happy to know that I did win in the end." Alexis smiled and held up her hand, and Kate high-fived her. "So where is my laser tag partner, anyway?"

"He stayed in the kitchen, I guess. He was rummaging through the cupboards and mumbling something about baking when I came in here."

Kate moved to get up, grabbing her crutches. Alexis offered to help her, but she just waved the girl off after thanking her. "I do appreciate the help, sweetie, but I'm going to have to learn to deal with them anyway, and the crutches do make it a lot easier. Your poor dad had to give me piggy back rides before I got these."

"Something tells me he didn't mind that too much," Alexis said, knowingly, in a voice that sounded like a younger version of her grandmother's at that moment. And Kate couldn't help but glance at Martha, where she found an 'I told you so' type of smirk hovering on her face.

"Yeah...well...I'm just going to...yeah." And Kate started to hobble into the kitchen to find Rick, eager to escape the gaze of the two very astute women.

She hobbled into the kitchen, finding Rick standing among the piles baking items that were once again littering the counters. He was leaning on his palms, looking down into the shiny part of the counter that he could see, looking somewhat forlorn. When he heard the crutches, he looked up at her.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said.

She looked at him, but he didn't say any more. He just continued to gaze at her with a somewhat unreadable expression on his face. So finally, she decided that she'd better say something or they'd probably both just fall asleep like that.

"We need to talk, Castle. We need to get a few things straight."

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_**So, that's it for now. Once again, I do apologize for the delay with getting this chapter published. Hopefully as I heal, I'll be able to write more and get back to more frequent updates. **_

_**And if you're still following this story, I'd love to hear what you think!**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Thanks for the many kind reviews on the last chapter! And I so appreciate the good wishes that a lot of you sent me for my fast recovery! I'm so grateful for all of the nice comments, especially when I have somewhat close relatives that knew I was having surgery and I haven't even had so much as a Facebook message from them wishing me well. So like I said, I really do appreciate everyone's patience, kind thoughts, and wonderful reviews. (And I'm doing pretty well...I think I'm actually ahead of schedule on some things. They have the niftiest little cooler units now; you put a little water and a bunch of ice in them, and then you hook up a special pad to a tube that comes out of the cooling unit. The thing circulates the ice water into the pad and keeps it cool for hours! So as I ice my leg, hopefully I can get more chapters written.)**_

_**I'm happy that you liked the conversation in the last chapter. I wrote a bit of it before the surgery, so I hoped that my pre-surgery writing wasn't too different than my post-surgery, pain-med writing. **_

_**This chapter was kind of slow for me to digest and write, and then it just did not want to end! So it's quite a bit longer than the last one. Once again, it doesn't cover a lot of time, but that's just kind of how my stories are, I guess. But anyway, I hope you like it.**_

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Previously:

_She hobbled into the kitchen, finding Rick standing among the piles baking items that were once again littering the counters. He was leaning on his palms, looking down into the shiny part of the counter that he could see, looking somewhat forlorn. When he heard the crutches, he looked up at her._

_"Hi," she said._

_"Hi," he said._

_She looked at him, but he didn't say any more. He just continued to gaze at her with a somewhat unreadable expression on his face. So finally, she decided that she'd better say something or they'd probably both just fall asleep like that._

_"We need to talk, Castle. We need to get a few things straight."_

He held up a hand. "Just let me apologize. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said. In the library. You know. About having-"

"No."

"No?" He looked puzzled at her denial.

"Well, yes, you're correct. You shouldn't have said it. But I shouldn't have said what I said afterward either. About...yeah. So _I'm_ sorry. Actually, I'm really sorry for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that your mother heard what I said and it had to be easily one of the most embarrassing moments of my life." She shook her head and looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry," he repeated again, looking a little bit like the sad puppy dog that Alexis had referred to.

"You said that already."

"Well, I am. You wouldn't be standing here embarrassed by what you said if I hadn't said what I said."

"Well stop saying you're sorry, because yes, I said what I said because of what you said, but I know you just said that because I was saying..." she trailed off, rolling her eyes. "Did I just really say that?"

"Say what?"

"The word 'said' about twenty thousand times."

Finally, his face lost some of that guilty puppy-dog look that Alexis had described, as his only answer was a smirk.

"Oh, shut up, Castle. Can we sit down and talk about this? I'd like to get off my feet...uh, foot. I think this could be a long conversation."

He started to usher her into one of the chairs on the other side of the counter, but then he thought better of that, what with his mother and daughter still presumably in the next room and there being about an 80% chance of potential eavesdropping. He cocked his head toward the entrance to the living room and then shook his head before asking her, "Can you hobble a little farther on those things?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, still a little miffed to have her abilities questioned, especially her ability to do something as simple as move into another room. "What do _you_ think, Castle?"

He swallowed at the look on her face. "Fine, dumb question, Spidey," he told her, referring to his description of her in the library earlier. "I think you should just follow me out to the three-season porch and I'll build a fire. Or you can go first and I'll follow you. You can even build the fire if you want."

"Sure, I can _build_ the fire," she told him over her shoulder as she moved toward the three-season porch. "But I'm sure it will be so difficult to _build_ a fire with my leg like this, you know, it's really hard to push that ignition button for the gas fireplace when you have a bum leg." The sarcasm was evident in her voice.

He didn't respond, but when they entered the room, he simply closed the door behind him and sat down on the couch across from the fire, grabbing the blankets they'd left there when they'd eaten dinner in that room a few nights before. He shook them out over himself. By then, Kate was finished 'building' the fire, and she hopped over and sat down next to him on the couch, but still a respectable distance away. He handed her a couple of the blankets and she wrapped one around her shoulders and put the other over her lap as they both turned on the couch to face each other.

"So what is this about?" he asked cautiously, trying to sound casual, although his stomach was churning inside because of the way they'd been yelling at each other before, and the way things were left between them. He knew she was embarrassed; she'd told him that just now, and even if she hadn't, he'd have known anyway because anyone on the face of the earth would have been at that moment. He almost wanted the power to go out again, so they could just hole up in his room, and they could snuggle and play board games and all would be right with the world, and she wouldn't be so hell bent on proving that she could be just as functional with one bum leg.

She looked down at her hands, and he knew she was trying to come up with the words to say. And even though it almost killed him to wait her out, he did. He knew she needed time to formulate what was on her mind and how to convey it. There were plenty of times when he would have just started talking randomly to fill up the silence, but he knew this wasn't one of the times where he could do that. He sensed that whatever she was about to say was serious; he sensed it had to do with a _relationship talk_. It was about more than just her ankle. He didn't think they'd have a _relationship talk_ quite yet, at least not until they got back to the city, especially considering the fact that technically, they didn't even have a relationship yet...not until she gave the go-ahead. Although in his own head, he would beg to differ on that point. Loudly.

Finally, she looked up at him and sighed. "This," she told him in an exasperated tone, gesturing at her bandaged ankle, "sucks. I absolutely abhor this. I don't _like_ people telling me I can't do something."

"I know."

"You do? Have you ever sprained your ankle? Do you know what it's like to not even be able to move around without two metal poles sticking out of your armpits?"

"No, I haven't sprained my ankle, but I jammed the ring finger of my right hand once." At her puzzled expression, he waved her off. "Don't ask. It's not a very complimentary story. Anyway, I couldn't type. Well, I could, as long as I didn't use any O's, L's or periods. Do you have any idea how hard it is to type something without O's, L's or periods? I couldn't even type my own name! So I know it's not the same as...movement, but for me...hello? Writer?" he said, pointing to himself, "It was pretty important. And inconvenient, and frustrating."

She nodded.

He prompted, "And...?"

"And I know I might have been a little too gung-ho at moving around when we got home from the E.R."

"A little? Beckett, you _climbed a ladder_. You have a _sprained ankle_."

She sighed again. "Yes, I realize now that perhaps climbing a ladder wasn't the best thing to do in light of my recent issues."

This time, Castle rolled his eyes. "Ya think?"

She gave him a look. "Castle," she said, a 'shut up' warning in her voice.

"Fine, fine. Go on."

"I just loathe feeling helpless. Useless."

He hated hearing the tone of frustrated resignation in her voice. "You're not either of those things," he countered resolutely.

"I am right now. And I don't like it."

"No, you're not. You might happen to have had a minor physical setback-"

"Minor?" she exclaimed.

"Yes, a _minor_ physical setback," he reiterated, "but you can still do almost everything. Sure, you can't run, and I can rest a little easier knowing that you're not going to bust my chops or anything else with a strategically placed karate kick. But you can still do a lot."

"Castle, I can't even walk, and that's pretty basic."

"Yes, you can. I never said that you wouldn't need some accommodation to do those things, but millions of people need some sort of accommodation for things we do every day. Look at all of the people who wear glasses or contacts and they couldn't function without them. You need crutches, but you can still move. Maybe not as fast, but you can still move. And that certainly doesn't make you helpless or useless."

"I won't be able to do my job."

"Not all of your job, no, you're right. But your job involves more than running after people. How many cases have we broken by just sitting around building theory and tossing around the facts of the case until something gelled?"

She didn't say anything immediately, but at least that meant that maybe he was getting through to her. But when she did speak, he realized that if Kate was anything, she was stubborn. "But it's still not all of my job. And even if we set that aside for a minute, there's so many other things I can't do. I can't vacuum. I can't even help you with dinner."

His brows knitted together in a puzzled fashion. "Vacuum? Why would you need to vacuum?"

"If the floor gets messy. To help. To do something. Like making dinner."

"But vacuuming? Geez, Beckett, if you want to start your own cleaning service, fine, but I didn't invite you here so you could clean my house. Why do you want to vacuum?"

"I don't _want_ to vacuum, but the point is that I couldn't do it even if I wanted to, or even if you needed me to."

"Then why are we talking about vacuuming? You don't want to do it, you don't need to, and I don't want you to. My floors are perfectly fine. The cleaning service came a few days ago, so unless you're unusually messy, everything should still be good. So enough about vacuuming, okay?"

"It's not just vacuuming, Castle!" He could see she was starting to get agitated again.

"Okay, okay. Obviously I'm not getting it. Explain it to me, please. We've determined that you can't do some things anymore, but you can still do a lot, with some help. I know the ankle is painful. Is that it? Because I can get you something-"

"THERE!" she shouted. Then, shocked at her loud voice, she put her fingertips to her forehead and closed her eyes. "That's what I'm talking about," she continued in a more normal voice, although he could see her attempts to reign in her frustration, to try to keep it from manifesting itself through her voice. "You have been doing nothing but waiting on me since I hurt myself."

"So? You needed some help, so I helped." He shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.

"Castle, I'm not used to being waited on. I'm not used to having someone bring me breakfast in bed, or having someone basically be at my beck and call. And I'm not used to having someone have to help me move around, or take a shower, or go to the freaking bathroom, for goodness sake!"

The puzzled look returned to his face. "I didn't help you go to the bathroom or take a shower." Then, a grin overtook the puzzled look. "Believe me, I would _remember_ if I had to help you take a shower!"

Her answer was to swat him gently on the arm. "I know that! But you had to move the chair so I could even manage to balance and support myself, and I invaded your shower because it had a seat, and then your whole bedroom. And I stayed there last night when I didn't even need to."

"No, but it still helped having someone near even though you had the walking stick." He didn't voice exactly how it helped to have someone near, or exactly which one of them was helped. Because he was sure that if he spoke about how happy he was that she'd stayed with him, or even if he invited her for another night, it wouldn't go over too well right now. So he just let her think that he meant that it was good for her. "Look, I already told you that I know you don't like to depend on me, but like I said last night, pretty soon you'll be back to kicking butts like you always have. Although I hope mine isn't one of them. You just have to wait it out."

"Four weeks is not 'pretty soon'."

"Well, Spidey, it's better than four months if you try to push things and end up injuring it more."

"Fine, I promise I won't climb on any more ladders."

"Good. And no vacuuming, either. Although I must admit, I'm not sure about the sudden interest in vacuuming."

"Symbolism, Castle. It was symbolic. You, of all people, should be able to get that. I should be trying to be helpful, hence the vacuuming example, and I can't _do_ anything."

He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. "Uh, Kate? Why do you need to be helpful? I don't get it."

"Because. I should earn my way, and if I'm a guest in someone's home, I should try to graciously accept that hospitality by not making myself a burden. I can't help you do anything, like cook dinner. I can't even make my bed!"

"You did too help me cook dinner. You chopped the veggies, remember? And about the bed...well, since we shared, and it was my bed, then technically, it was my responsibility. It would have gotten messy anyway, so you actually saved work by sleeping with me." Then he realized how that sounded, and how she traditionally hated when he inferred more that what there was between them in that light, so he haltingly attempted to clarify. "Uh, no not sleep with me...no, that's not right either. I mean, it's right because we did sleep, but we just slept. Uh, how about shared my bed. No, that's not right either. Uh...damn. Is there just no good way to say that?"

She'd forgotten about the chopping, so that eased her mind a little bit. But then she got caught up with listening to him spin his particular brand of logic about making the bed, and then with the humor of him trying to get his foot out of his mouth with the 'sleeping with me' comment. She smiled a tiny smile. "Probably not," she said in response to his last, almost rhetorical question. "But I know what you mean. And I know we just slept. Well, for the most part we just slept. And your bit of logic about making the bed is...very 'you'."

"Very 'me'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Only you could come up with that particular brand of logic about sharing a bed to eliminate bed-making duties."

"But it's true!" he argued. "And there were other side benefits as well..." he added, waggling his eyebrows.

She turned her head sideways into the back of the couch and banged her head lightly into the cushion. She raised her head back up when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned her face back to look at the suddenly serious eyes of Richard Castle.

"Hey," he said, "I get that you want to be useful. You, Detective, are not one to be content to sit around idly. But sometimes...sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Right now, that means that you can't do some things, and you might need some help to do others. And that's what I'm here for, okay? I want to help you. I _should_ help you. You got hurt in my house, after all."

She rolled her eyes. "Castle, if there's anything that I dislike more than being a helpless burden, it's being an obligation."

"Kate. How many times do I have to tell you? You're none of those things. I want to help you, and I would want to take care of you even if this was your house, even if I wasn't even here when you got hurt. It has nothing to do with being an obligation, because you're not. You just need some help, and I want to be the one to provide it for you."

"Has it escaped you that you're some rich, famous millionaire? You're not some caregiver or personal assistant."

"Maybe I want to be _your_ personal caregiver/assistant. In fact, I think since I have some experience already, I'd do a good job. And I know I'd love the job." He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze, a disarming smile adorning his face.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you love the job?"

"Because you need me. And I...care about you and I don't like to see you hurt or having a tough time with things. I like spending time with you. And there are those fringe benefits too."

"I almost hesitate to ask, but what fringe benefits?"

"Like, say you're cold. It would be your dutiful personal assistant's job to make sure you were nice and warm. See? Like this," he said as he scooted closer to her, putting his arm around her and pulling her closer. He was relieved when she acquiesced and turned a bit, leaning into him without putting up a fight.

"You don't need to be following me around and waiting on me," she said in a softer voice.

"Maybe not for everything, now that you have the crutches. But you do still need to take it easy a little bit, and let me help you with some things. Basically, you have to walk with your arms and shoulders now, and that'll take some getting used to. I mean, even with the crutches, you just can't go running around the house like a whirling dervish."

"A whirling dervish?"

"Yes. When we got home from the doctor, you were like a crutched whirling dervish with ants in her pants. The way you were moving, I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd started twirling your crutches like batons. You wouldn't sit still, and then it all culminated with you climbing the ladder in the library. Remember?"

"I've already conceded the point about the ladder. But really, Castle, a whirling dervish?"

She could feel him shrug. "Eh, it worked at the time. So am I hired? I really want the job. I can provide glowing references from a beautiful young red head."

She heard Martha's words again in her mind: _"he loves that he can be useful to you, and he can do things for you"_ and _"when he cares for people, he likes to be able to _take_ care of them." _And like it or not, she would need help, at least until she got used to things or could put some weight on her right leg.

"Fine," she told him, "you're hired. BUT, there are conditions. I want to try to do things on my own first, like moving. And no doing something for me unless I ask for help. Okay?"

"I guess." He sounded a little forlorn at the prospect of conditions, but as long as she had his verbal agreement, then she could use that to try to keep him in line. Then she laughed. This was Castle, after all. When did the man ever follow the rules?

"What's so funny?" he asked, hearing her chuckle.

"Me, expecting _you_ to actually be able to adhere to conditions. Ha! Just like staying in the car. When did you ever stay in the car when you were told to?"

"I have too stayed in the car, and I'll even tell you when! During that home invasion case. I stayed in the car, and then the bad guy proceeded to land directly _on_ said car when he jumped. And he got me anyway. So see, sometimes there's just no point in listening. Fate will bite you in the butt anyway."

She just shook her head.

"But see, you are having a good influence on me anyway," he told her. She turned her head to look up at him, and the look on her face told him that she didn't know what he was talking about. "_Your_ rules. This weekend. _Us,_" he clarified. "I'm following _those_ rules, aren't I?"

She thought for a minute. And she had to admit that he was. He was, after all, the one who had pulled away and left her wanting more after the bathroom incident from earlier. "Well, Castle, I guess you do have a point. I guess you _can_ teach an old dog new tricks." She smiled to herself, because she knew that last comment elicit some sort of a reaction from him.

"Hey!" He turned to her and caught her smirk. "Old? I'll show you old," he threatened, right before he proceeded to take his arm away from her shoulder and leaned over her as he commenced trying to tickle her.

"Ah! Castle, what are you doing?" she shrieked.

"I am making you pay for that comment, you smart-mouthed girl!"

"Castle, I'm not ticklish."

"Sure, you are, everyone is ticklish somewhere," he said as he leaned over her and ran his hands down her sides. With, unfortunately for him, not a smirk from her.

"I told you, I'm not."

"Not buying it, Beckett. I've done research." He tried the lightest of touches down her neck. Still nothing. "There is somewhere on your body that is not immune to the effects of tickling." He moved down her back, across her shoulder blades, and down her sides again. Still nothing.

"Well..." she drawled, not altogether too eager to continue, because she knew that once she did, the man would be off her so fast she'd probaby hear a sonic boom. And right now, she was rather enjoying the activities as he tried to figure out his puzzle.

He stopped at her one word, looking at her, waiting for her to continue. "Well? Where is your special place?"

"My 'special place'? You make it sound so kinky, Castle."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, is it?"

"Maybe," she teased.

"Beckett, where are you ticklish? I have to know."

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

She crooked her index finger at him, motioning for him to come a little closer, which he did without hestiation. She raised her face and gave him a little peck on his lips. "Do you really want to know?" she asked him in a soft voice, clearly enunciating each syllable, which gave her voice a sultry, seductive tone. "Because, if I let you know where I'm ticklish, then I guarantee we'll be violating one of my rules if you try to tickle me there. And I know you don't want to violate my rules, right, Castle?"

As the implications of what she said crystallized in his mind, he quickly sprang away from her and leaned in the opposite corner of the couch, running his hands through his hair. All of her rules had to do with...more intimate activities. And as soon as she brought up the rules, in that context, his mind automatically went to those intimate activities. As his mind conjured up images of where the ticklish spot might be-along with the rule that would be broken if he found out-he alternately looked straight ahead and then over at a smugly grinning Beckett and then away again.

"You can't say I didn't warn you," she said during one of the moments when he was looking at her.

He looked away, shaking his head. When he looked back at her, he just said simply, "Beckett."

"You did ask, Castle."

"I'll have to watch that with you, I guess. So tell me, if I follow the rules, will I eventually find out?"

"Castle, think about it. Do you _really_ want me to answer that question? At least right now?"

At her question, he shook his head really fast in an attempt to clear his head. He closed his eyes and took a couple of breaths. Then he looked back up at her before standing up and holding out a hand to her. "Let's go back to the kitchen."

She eyed his hand before taking it, quickly deciding that having him help her up from the couch was acceptable. At least he wasn't trying to carry her. When she was on her feet, she asked "Why?"

"Because we're going to bake something. And you can help. In fact, you'd better help _a lot_. Especially after the 'old dog' remark and that last thing...you owe me, Beckett."

She grabbed her crutches and started toward the door to the porch. "I'm going to the kitchen. You can turn off the fire. Don't take forever," she finished bossily.

He watched her exit the room, and then he smiled. He was glad she seemed to have some of her spunk back, at least enough so that she was comfortable bossing him around and trading innuendo with him. He knew this was hard on her, and it would continue to be hard, especially after she got back to work. And he wanted to be there for her. Especially now when she needed him, especially now when there was the promise of more to their relationship. But oh, those rules. He hoped they wouldn't be the death of him, because there were times when he just wanted to violate them so badly. But when he thought about it, there was something new that he was feeling that always, somehow, let him hold himself in check. It was the possiblity, the promise of more between them. More than what he'd ever felt for someone before. He didn't know quite what it was yet, but it was that promise that made him wait and not rush her. And as long as that was there, that was enough. And as he turned off the fireplace and exited the room, he thought that this was going to be one heck of a ride, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

But right now, he had cookies to make. No, scratch that. Pies. They were going to make pies.

* * *

_**Well, that's it. This is officially my longest 'Blizzard' chapter ever. Hope it wasn't too long or boring for you. I honestly didn't intend for it to be that long, but as I said in my note above, it just wouldn't end. **_

_**So, thanks for reading, thanks again for all of the lovely reviews and kind thoughts for the last chapter, and let me know your thoughts for this one!**_


	25. Chapter 25

_**It's a Castle Monday with no Castle, so I hope this chapter will be a welcome surprise for some of you and will help to get you over some Castle withdrawl. And it's not a short chapter either-it's now my longest, even longer than 24-so I hope everyone enjoys it. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, but boy, would I love to visit 'their' NYPD sometime! Wouldn't it be the greatest thing to see the sets and all of that? Wow... (Googie gets lost in dreams here...)**_

* * *

Lemon meringue and pecan. And then there was some concoction that wasn't a pie, but was instead some sort of brownie explosion with chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, oreos and something else that made the whole mess gooey as sin, but it tasted absolutely decadent. It took a few hours, and by the end of the time, Kate was really wondering what in the world he was making. But as she watched him quietly assemble the brownie concoction, she realized that she couldn't wait to taste it. And with good reason. Castle insisted that there wasn't a recipe, but it tasted so good that Kate surmised that there had to be a recipe, and it contained some secret ingredient that he didn't want her to know so he'd told her a fib about there being no recipe. Kate sat on one of the few clean and clutter-free portions of the kitchen counter as pies baked in the oven and she slowly savored a piece of the brownie concoction that was already done.

"Fine," Kate told him, pointing her finger at him. "_Don't_ give me the recipe. You'll just have to make me some of these whenever I feel like chocolate goo overload. Like my own personal chef. And let me warn you, there are many, many times when I feel like getting overloaded by chocolate goo. So it would be much easier for you to just give me the recipe, but oh, if you don't want to...prepare to bake, Castle." And she took the last bite of the piece she was eating, smiling as it hit her tastebuds.

"Kate, there really _is_ no recipe! Honest! I invented it! And it could hardly even be called baking...it's just throwing a bunch of already-done stuff together. Like when you put chunks of cookie dough in ice cream and voila! You have a new flavor of ice cream. But there isn't really a recipe for it...it's just a bunch of stuff thrown together."

"Reawwy Casso, do I 'ook 'ike I zhus feww off da oh'ip wuck?" she asked, or tried to, while still savoring the last bite.

He looked at her and then just gave a big "Fell off the _what_?" with a shake of his head.

She swallowed the remaining piece in her mouth in a big gulp, and then said "Fell of the turnip truck."

He didn't say anything, but leaned in toward her and braced his hands on either side of her legs as she sat on the counter. "You do things like that, and it's just so hot," he told her softly, with a sly grin on his face.

"Like what? Talk with my mouth full?"

"No. Use an idiomatic expression like that. And considering that you grew up in the city, where you aren't even likely to think about a turnip truck, or any other sort of vegetable truck, it makes it even more amazing."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you just amazed by anything even remotely literary that comes out of my mouth? First apostrophes and now idioms?"

"Well, those are hot by themselves, but when they're combined with that little dollop of marshmallow creme by the side of your mouth, the whole package is irresistible," he told her as he leaned in even closer. At the mention of the marshmallow creme, her hand shot up to wipe it off, but he caught it before it could clean away the glob. "Allow me," he said as he leaned the rest of the way forward to let his lips clean the food from her. He sucked at it lightly, and then let his tongue snake out and lightly licked the rest of it off. Then his lips moved over a bit so they were fully over hers, and lightly pressed against them in a light kiss. Of its own accord, her hand moved up to rest on the back of his neck, not really pulling him any closer, but not letting him back away either.

They shared a few light kisses, just enjoying the contact. He especially enjoyed the contact, the lightness, the ease, the intimacy of it, because after the earlier incident in the library, when they'd both been frustrated and somewhat angry-for their own reasons-he'd been so worried that they'd crossed some sort of bridge in their tentative new relationship that they wouldn't be able to return back across. It was relief. And it was proof that they'd regained that ground that he'd thought they might have lost during that little altercation. And, well, he just liked it. And he liked it so much that he tried to deepen the kiss a bit, stepping a bit closer to her, and was almost giddy to find that when he did that, he could feel that hand on the back of his neck pull him a little closer to her. But giddiness soon left his mind as he wrapped his arms around her and stepped in between her knees, pulling her even closer to him as the kiss grew more passionate.

"Hey, is anything done ye...oh, geez...sorry...I'll just...yeah...consider me gone. I was never here." Alexis had bounded into the kitchen, probably looking for treats, but then caught sight of her father and Kate having an intimate moment, effectively making the intimate moment between two into an uncomfortable moment between three. The two adults pulled away from each other when they registered her voice, and Kate turned around in time to see Alexis stammer the end of her words before retreating back out the way she came. Kate, her lips still tingling from the pleasurable assault, looked back at Rick, but for once, the look on his face was perfectly blank. So she figured the ball was in her court and, after taking a deep breath, said loudly enough to carry to the next room, "Alexis, come on back in here."

A red head peeked through the doorway several seconds later, discomfort evident on her face. Sure, she had seen them kiss before, a few days ago while they were making the snowman, and then in the pictures that her Grams had texted to her while she was at Julia's house. But actually interrupting them, with them knowing that she'd seen them, was an entirely different thing. A kind of embarrassing thing.

"Come back in here, Alexis," Kate instructed again gently. When the girl still seemed unsure, Kate added, "Vite!", which, to Rick's amazement, resulted in his daughter coming the rest of the way back into the room, somewhat quickly even, but still with the strange look on her face.

"Look, it's no problem, really. I don't need to be in here now if you two..." she trailed off, her mind filling with all of the ways she could have said what she was trying to say, but none of which seemed appropriate. This was her _dad_! There was just no good way to put anything like that into words, _about your father_, when you're talking _to_ that father, especially with the other half of the equation sitting right there. Maybe alone with him, but definitely not like this, with Kate there, when she had just interrupted them. She remembered the conversation with her Grams after the snowman incident. Tonsil hockey...the words popped unbidden into her brain and suddenly, she looked at the floor, unable to look at them anymore.

"Alexis," Kate started, but then Rick put a hand on her leg as he pushed away from the counter and walked over to where his daughter was still standing, now looking at the floor.

"Pumpkin, you've seen me kiss women before. Why is it so weird for you now?"

Alexis glanced over at Kate, who said, "Do you want me to leave so you guys can have this conversation in private?"

"No! No...Kate, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt, and I'm not going to chase you out of here. Especially when you can't move very well." She looked at her father. "Sorry, Dad, it's just...different. I mean, you've-we've all-known Kate for a long time. And I didn't know you two were...you know."

"We never were...you know...before this trip."

"Oh. Ohhhh!" Alexis said, as the implication of more intimate activities-in this house, _recently_-was suddenly realized by all of those in the room.

"No, it's not-" Rick started.

"We didn't-" Kate stuttered.

When they each heard the other ones protests, they looked at each other, and then back at Alexis, who still had a look on her face that said that she wanted to be anywhere than where she was right now. Thinking about her father's love life. "You know what? I don't even _want_ to know," the girl said. "Dad, you have to realize how squicky it is to imagine one of your parents...like that. It's totally bad enough with mom. What about when you walked in on Grams that one time? Remember how you told me you wanted to wash off your retinas with lye soap?" She waited for two beats as Rick thought back, and then he gave an involuntary shudder as he remembered interrupting one of his mother's amorous moments as she was wrapped up with an old costar on the couch in his living room.

Kate realized that the two of them were caught up in thoughts about their respective parents that made most people want to have a sudden case of memory loss. Nobody wanted to think of their parents like that, even with each other, let alone with someone else. So she decided to ease the awkwardness herself, or at least try to.

"Alexis." She waited for the girl to turn to her. "We...I..." Oh, brother, this was harder than she thought it would be. She took a deep breath. "This...whatever it is between your father and me...it's really new. And there's none of that _really_ uncomfortable stuff for you to imagine, because none of that has happened." Did she imagine that the girl relaxed just a little bit after that statement? "I mean, when I was a little kid, I used to get so embarrassed when I saw my parents even kiss. And they were married! And in time I could watch the hugs or the quick little pecks on the lips, but anything more than that was just a little much, especially when I got to be your age. Because by then I had a pretty good idea of what went on behind closed doors...and, I mean, my _parents_? Ugh. They loved each other, very much, but I still didn't want to think of...any more than that." She paused and studied the girl again, and now she did look a bit more relaxed, so Kate continued. "But I have to know...or _we_ should know..." she said, looking at Rick to include him in her statement, "is the discomfort that you're feeling now related to witnessing something of a somewhat more intimate nature regarding your father, or because _I_ was the other party involved?"

Alexis looked at her questioningly. "I...huh?"

Kate held up a hand. "Sorry. I'm spending too much time around your father and now I'm getting verbose-"

"Hey!" Rick protested, looking indignant at her descriptor.

"Shut up, Castle. I'm talking to your daughter." She turned back to Alexis. "You're obviously uncomfortable. So is it because you saw your father _kiss_ me, or is it because you saw your father kiss _me_?"

The girl stared at Kate for about another two seconds, and then it showed dramatically on her face when she realized what Kate was asking. "Am I wor...you? No, it's not you! You're good. You're fine. That's great. It's him," she said, all but ignoring her father as she stepped around him a little more in Kate's direction, crooking her thumb toward him. "It's that whole fatherly romance thing that I prefer not to witness, you know? And then there's that playboy stuff that floats around..."

Kate nodded in sympathy, while Rick said "I_ am_ right here, you know."

Then Alexis realized that what she said could be misconstrued, and she didn't want to perpetuate that idea. "Sorry...I should clarify...he's not really a playboy, well not too much anyway-"

"Still right here, you know," Rick reminded, but she continued without really acknowledging him.

"But you know how the press is, and they make him out to be a certain way, and I know he does sign women's chests, but I just don't really like to see that part of things. With anyone. It's not you," she finished, repeating what she'd said before.

"Your father is your father and he shouldn't kiss people?" Kate prompted.

"Kind of. It's just...weird. I mean...yeah. I know he does. Kiss people. Women. And other...oh, I really don't want to go there." She closed her eyes and shook her head, giving a shudder that was almost identical to the one her father just gave when imagining his own mother's romantic entanglements, and Kate had to stifle a grin. "Really weird," she finished off after the shudder.

"But Alexis?" Kate continued. "I'm sorry if I...we...made you uncomfortable. This is your house, and I wouldn't want to do that. And I don't even know if we're...your dad and I aren't really...I don't even know exactly what we're doing here."

Alexis looked a little puzzled. "Well, from what I saw, it looked like you guys are going out. You know, dating or something. Involved. Or whatever it's called for you guys. And that's cool." She remembered what she'd told her grandmother a few days ago, and she then leaned forward and said to Kate in a stage whisper, "You're a definite improvement over some of those other women he's dated, so that's a good thing." Rick narrowed his eyes at his daughter, but he couldn't really find anything to say, because hey, his kid was right. Kate _was_ an improvement. But even then, the two females still didn't really even acknowledge him. Alexis continued on in a normal voice again. "And really, it's about time. Just...I don't have any lye soap along to burn any images off of the retinas, so if you guys," she finally acknowledged her father again as she looked at both of them, "could keep the PDAs somewhat in check, I'll be sure to announce myself before I enter a room. How's that?"

Kate nodded, still a little non-plussed by the 'it's about time' comment, especially after the matter-of-fact way the girl announced that she and Castle were dating or involved. But she could think about that later. Then she asked, "Alexis?"

"Yeah?"

"I really _did_ just come along to help you with your french. Nothing else...I didn't plan for anything to happen with your dad. Really. It was kind of a...shock, actually. Like a really big shock. But I don't want you to think..." she trailed off.

"I don't. Believe me, I know when someone is using me to try to get to my dad. Considering how long you've worked together already, I suppose that you planned to get involved with my dad on this trip about as much as you planned to sprain your ankle."

Kate smiled. "Probably less."

Just then, Castle stepped forward again, looking from Kate to Alexis and then back to Kate. "Are you two done so I can actually join the conversation again? Because, you know, I'm still here." He looked a little dejected as he finished talking.

"What's the matter, dad? Feeling left out? Wanna learn some french with me?" Alexis joked.

"I already know some french. Kate is a _very_ good teacher." When he said that, Kate could feel her face heat up a little as she thought of all of Castle's references to 'french lessons', which was his euphemism for french kissing. Which was something that should _not_ be mentioned in front of his daughter, especially when the poor girl had just said she was uncomfortable with that topic.

She was ready to start protesting, to try to change the subject, or even just shove something edible (or non-edible) in his mouth so he couldn't talk anymore, but then he reached to the side of Kate and grabbed the pan of brownies. Turning around, he presented the pan to his daughter with a flourish and proclaimed, "Voila! See? Kate _did_ teach me some french!"

Kate breathed a sigh of relief that Castle wasn't going to do something moritfying, as Alexis exclaimed, "Five-layer brownies? Really? Hand one over. Now!" But the girl didn't really wait for her father, she grabbed the pan and started lifting a piece out. "Oh, it's been _forever_ since you've made these, dad!"

"Five-layer brownies, huh?" Kate asked with a raised eyebrow. "Sounds like a dessert name, Castle. And usually if there's a name, there's a recipe."

"You're still on the recipe kick?" He turned to his daughter. "Pumpkin, will you please tell the good detective the story of the brownies? She wants a recipe, but she won't believe me when I tell her that there isn't one."

Alexis, not being able to wait a moment longer when she'd seen what was in the pan, had just taken a bite, so her words were a bit muffled. "He's wite. No weal wesh-pe. Zhus stuff. Weally good doe. 'Owwy." She shrugged the last part of her explanation and apology to Kate as she savored the treat.

"See?" Castle asked, obviously feeling vindicated. "But if you're extra nice to me, I'll tell you how to make them, even though it's not really a recipe, per se."

Kate, not able to resist when Alexis was chomping away next to her, reached into the pan for another one. "I suppose I could earn it by trying to teach you some more french..."

Rick got a crooked smile on his face. "I think that would be a _very_ good idea. It's a deal." But while his words conjured nothing out of the ordinary in the mind of his daughter, Kate knew from the tone of his voice that his words were a double entendre, and the more risque meaning was meant for her. And she'd walked right into it. From the look on his face, she knew he was now not being quite as innocent as he had been before, when he'd shown off his 'voila' to Alexis. She knew that he was referring to their previous innuendo of 'french lessons', and even if she had still had any doubt, it would have been confirmed by the roguish tilt of his eyebrow, which was so quick-and luckily facing away from Alexis-that she almost missed it.

She quickly shoved the brownie into her mouth, before her mouth said something else that got him going. He just grinned at her, and she was so tempted to roll her eyes, although she didn't. She just fixed him with a glare, and, infuriating man that he was, it only made him grin more widely.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After the pies had baked, after copious amounts of five-layer brownies had been consumed, and after the attempt had been made to have a 'proper' dinner despite the previous consumption of the copious amounts of five-layer brownies, they all found that the evening was stretched out in front of them, with no concrete plans. It felt like it was later than it really was because the winter days were still pretty short, and a lot had already transpired. Rick had made good on his promise not to hover over Kate, and actually asked her to help with some things-simple things, like getting an oven mitt out of a drawer-and although she knew that she wasn't 'really' helping a lot, she appreciated the effort he was making. Alexis helped the two of them make dinner, while Martha had retired to her room for a bit to call some friends. During the time spent milling around the kitchen, Kate had quizzed Alexis on the names of various food items. The girl had already had a 'food' unit in her class, so she wanted to see how much she could remember.

Castle had to try his hand at the words too, to keep up with his earlier proclamation about french lessons, and he still murdered the pronunciation. And of course, whenever Alexis had her back turned, he gave Kate a seductive look, an air kiss, or a raised eyebrow, often whispering 'french lessons' in her ear as he moved near enough to her, letting her know that he still was thinking about the other type of 'french lessons'. After about the sixth or seventh time, she swatted him on the arm. He just grinned at her and went on preparing a salad. After the next time, she was careful not to give any outward reaction, but when she went to move across the room, she positioned the tip of her crutch directly on his big toe and put some weight on the handle. Not a lot of weight, but enough to cause some discomfort. When she heard his squeak, she smiled sweetly at him as he pointed to his foot. "Geez, Beckett, foot!" he managed to say as she kept the weight and the smile constant.

"Oh, oops! Sorry, Castle!" she said with mock sincerity as she eased the pressure on the crutch and moved it off his foot and back the floor. "Je suis désolée! Mais non, Castle. Le mot est pied," she said in french. "Since you're so insistent on _french lessons_," she explained, giving special emphasis to the words, "the french word for foot is 'pied'. You should really try harder, Castle, otherwise Alexis is going to get a bad impression of your work ethic at learning a new language. Right, Alexis?"

At her father's exclamation, the teenager had turned to see what was wrong with him _this_ time, and she watched the little exchange between the two adults with interest. There was obviously some inside joke or hidden meaning for what was going on, but she couldn't figure out what it was. But whatever it was, she was sure that her dad was doing something annoying and that Kate had just gotten back at him at him for it. And it was definitely fun to watch, so with the opening from Kate, she got in on the game, even though she still didn't know exactly what the full game was. "Oh, definitely. I need a good role model, you know. So let's hear it dad...foot. Pied."

"Beckett's your role model," he protested.

"Dad!"

"Fine. How do you spell it?"

"Why do you always need to know how things are spelled?" Alexis asked. "The sounds are different anyway, so most of the time it's not going to make sense by english standards anyway."

"Humor me, okay?"

"Fine. P-I-E-D," she spelled.

"What? Like the word pie, only with a 'd' on the end? Like if I throw a pie at you, I've pie-d you? It shouldn't mean foot! Shouldn't that word have to do with the face or something? Something to do with a pie, like eating it or getting it thrown in your face? And it should be a verb, not a noun!"

Kate and Alexis gave him twin eye rolls. Alexis looked at Kate and said "Il est difficile."

"Très difficile," Kate agreed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

So after dinner, for lack of anything better to do, they decided to watch a movie. Kate, once again, was the last to sit down, and she was again unsure of where to sit, not because she was uncomfortable sitting next to Castle like she had been several nights ago, but because she was conscious of making Alexis uncomfortable after what she had witnessed in the kitchen earlier. So Kate positioned herself to sit down in a rather uncomfortable looking end chair, but she looked up when she heard Alexis say her name.

"Why are you sitting way over there? Sit by dad! I mean, I know I asked you to go easy on the PDAs, so don't, like, make out or something, but you can sit by us...him. I mean, if you guys are dating now, you should at least sit together to watch a movie!"

Kate froze. Dating? They weren't dating! That whole discussion was tabled until after they got home. There were the rules, which they spectacularly kept almost-breaking. Dating? She knew that's what Alexis had said earlier, but it was in the middle of that other conversation and she was trying to just talk to the girl and ease her discomfort at seeing her and Castle going at it in the kitchen, so she just let the comment pass at the time, for the most part anyway. Kate did tell Alexis that she didn't know what she and Castle were doing, but the teenager apparently wasn't remembering that part of it. And now, she had both Little Castle and Big Castle staring at her, wondering where she was going to sit. Dating Castle? And suddenly, Kate had the feeling that something as simple as deciding where to sit to watch a movie had almost morphed into a life-changing event. If she sat next to Castle, she would essentially be admitting that they were dating, that they were involved, that she was going to give 'them' a chance. She knew from the look on his face that he would take it like that. But she didn't know if she was ready to go down that road quite yet; they still had time left here, and she had to think about things. She needed time so she could rationalize if getting involved with him was a good decision. She had to figure out how it would work. And all of that was supposed to take place when she got home, damn it, not here with two sets of Castle baby blues staring at her!

She locked eyes with Castle, and she could see his one eyebrow raise ever so slightly, silently asking her the question: 'So are we dating?' She couldn't hold his gaze for any longer, and she looked down at the floor for a moment, weighing her options. And when she looked back up at him, she knew where she was going to have to sit.

* * *

_**The 'brownie explosion' mentioned throughout the first part of the story? That's my own creation. I made it on a whim for a family reunion once. It went over pretty well so I made it here and there, and now, years later, it has morphed into the preferred school treat for whichever of my children is having a birthday. I haven't made cupcakes or even a cake in I don't know how long, but we certainly go through a lot of brownies. **_

_**As I was writing this, my kiddo wanted to watch some Castle, so we watched 'The Third Man'. There was a nice little Alexis/Dad conversation in there when he was getting ready for the date with Bachelorette #3, and it fit in perfectly with this chapter. So I went back and tweaked a bit of the Alexis conversation and reaction in this chapter. I hope it's believable.**_

_**I'm going to date myself here, but does anyone remember the Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" commercials with that older lady (Clara Peller?) In my French class, we had a food unit (like I mentioned in the story) and we had to do a skit, like ordering something at a restaurant. So this one group gets up in front of the class, and they go through their skit, and then this one girl says loudly "Ou est le bif?" The entire class died laughing b/c it was the Wendy's commercial...in french! Well, maybe not so funny now, but it was hysterical then.**_

_**Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Several people have asked for more Alexis, AND wanted her to do a little matchmaking, so I trust this chapter satisfied both of those requests? Although, I tried to do it so the matchmaking wasn't terribly blatant. She doesn't know about the rules or Kate's apprehension about committing to even try a relationship with Castle. She just knows that they know each other really well, and they were playing tonsil hockey a lot lately, so it's a given that they're dating, right? She's used to women throwing themselves at her father, so it's not even really in her thought processes that maybe Kate wouldn't want a relationship with him, especially with the aforementioned recent tonsil hockey pastime. So I tried to have that attitude/perception come into play a bit here.**_

_**And those who reviewed the last chapter...thank you! I so enjoyed reading your comments after my little hiatus (and it is SO nice to have no stitches anymore. I love showers with no garbage bags!). One of the best comments (for my ego)...LittleLizzieZentara described this as her 'favorite fan fic ever'...way cool! And thank you! And another one from Valerie S. Morse...I'm apparently so famous for my stories! Not sure where, but if you say so, I'll believe you b/c hey, why would I not want to believe that.**_

_**So...read, check. Enjoy...hopefully check. Review...you know what to do. Let me know what you think.**_

_**And after what is probably the longest ending author's note in the history of fanfiction, I will now sign off.**_


	26. Chapter 26

_**I'm really excited to be able to come back to this story after so long! If it's any consolation, I never intended for the hiatus to be quite this long; it just got too difficult to work on several stories at once and trying to keep them straight in my brain. Not just the details, but the tone too. But the good news is that we're back!**_

_**I was surprised that so many of you wanted the 'recipe' for the five-layer brownies. And the truth is that there really isn't a recipe, just like in the story. So you'll find the...directions, I guess...below, in my post-chapter author's note. I didn't want to put it here b/c I want you all to actually READ the chapter before you go for the chocolate goo overload. ;-)**_

_**Okay, since it's been so long, I'd like to recommend that everyone hit the little 'Prev' button in the upper right corner and go back and read Chapter 24 to familiarize yourselves where we are right now in the story. Better yet, go back to Chapter 20 and start from there. When I was rereading this story recently (to refamilarize myself...LOL), I discovered that I really enjoyed that chapter (trying to reread it impartially, that is), with the Martha banter and the karaoke.**_

_**Disclaimers: Standard disclaimers still apply.**_

_Previously: So anyway, Kate is wondering where to sit to watch a movie with Big Castle and Little Castle, because Little Castle has assumed, from the intense liplock that she witnessed, that her dad and the detective are dating now. But that freaks Kate out, because she's not ready to admit it, because of her 'rules' and her insistence that she won't make a decision until they return home. So she's thinking that the mere topic of where to sit will indicate her making a decision about them 'dating' before she's ready._

* * *

"No, Alexis, that won't work. I really can't sit by your dad."

After she said the words, she caught the look on Rick's face in her peripheral vision. Was that...did he look _disappointed_? Not in the 'I'm going to pout because I didn't get my way' type of Castle disappointment, but genuine let-down, where if she wasn't mistaken, she saw his shoulders slump just a bit. Of course recovered very quickly, covering his reaction it with a curious expression, but she saw it, she noticed it in the split second before he could mask his reaction. She was a trained detective, after all.

Witnessing that, Kate continued with the thought that had popped into her mind when she was waffling over what to say in response to Alexis' 'dating' question. "I mean, I should really sit next to _you_, so we can work on your French during the movie, like we did before. It just didn't work so well a few nights ago when we had to try to talk over your dad. So can you scoot over a little so I can sit next to you in the corner of the couch?"

Alexis murmured, "Good idea," as she set about moving toward the middle of the couch, nudging her dad to move to the other end. While Alexis moved the blankets, Kate sneaked another look at Castle, who was giving her a very slight, sly grin that said that he knew exactly what she was doing, avoiding the unspoken question, but then he nodded in a form of admiration for her ability to get out of the situation that he knew was kind of a sticky one for her. She raised an eyebrow at him in a quick little look before she moved to sit down by Alexis, acknowledging him as if to say 'thought I was caught there, huh?'. But then it occurred to her that the entire quick exchange had been made with mere looks; not a word had been spoken. Interesting. But at least he didn't look disappointed anymore, and for some reason that thought warmed her a bit, although she wasn't going to stop to think right now why she didn't want to disappoint him.

She hopped over to the other side of the couch and settled herself in. It actually worked out better, sitting next to Alexis on the right side of the couch, because they'd started out opposite from where they'd been the previous time they'd watched a movie, and her leg would have been in the way when she elevated it. So now, after Castle hopped up and pulled an ottoman close to that side of the couch, she could put her leg up on the ottoman and not have it be in anyone's way.

Finally, everyone was settled into the couch, under their blankets, when Alexis announced, "Oh, no. We didn't get any movie food!"

Rick looked at her, somewhat bewildered. "We just had dinner, not to mention several pieces of the five layer brownies. Where are you _putting_ it all, child?"

"Ugh," she responded. "Not necessarily something to eat. Yet, anyway. But we need drinks, right? Um...hot chocolate? Or if you guys want wine again, then you'll have to get that because I'd have no idea what you're in the mood for."

And even though she knew Alexis' intentions were totally innocent with the comment, at the mention of the wine and being 'in the mood', Kate thought of the inhibition-lowering wine from the previous night and how it had indeed lowered her inhibitions just enough where she thought nothing of inviting herself into Castle's bed for the second night in a row. Sure, nothing happened, but just the thought of that was enough to make her say rather hastily, "No!"

She was instantly sorry she hadn't modulated her reaction a bit more when she saw Alexis shrink back a little at her loud exclamation. "No, thank you," she amended. "I mean, uh, I think hot chocolate sounds wonderful, much better than wine right now. Don't you, Castle?" she asked, eyebrows raised, silently asking him for help to back her up in her claim.

He understood the predicament she was in now, and although he didn't have a problem stepping in to help her out with her verbal blunder, he raised an eyebrow at her in a challenging look before he spoke, letting her know without words that she was going to owe him. "Yeah, sweetie," he said, directly addressing his daughter although he was still aware of Kate's gaze on him. "I think hot chocolate sounds wonderful. Do you want to go make some, or do you want me to do it?"

Alexis was giving them a strange look, pivoting her eyes from one of the adults to the other and back again. She had the feeling there was something she was missing, although she wasn't exactly sure what it was. Grateful for the chance to escape the weirdness, Alexis jumped on the pseudo offer to vacate the room temporarily. "Oh, no problem. I can make the hot chocolate. Marshmallows? Well, forget that...who am I talking to? Of _course_ we need marshmallows!" she said, backing toward the kitchen. "Be right back!" And in a flash, she was gone.

Once they were alone, Rick looked at Kate with a wry smile and said simply, "Smooth."

She reached out and thumped him on the shoulder. "I had wine last night, in case you don't remember," she said in an urgent whisper, "and I ended up in your _bed_ again!"

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing," he stated with some amount of apparent confusion, athough she was certain that it was totally faked.

Still in a loud, frantic whisper, she said, "It is when your _daughter_ is in the house!"

"But she wasn't in the house last night."

"But she is now, and the mention of wine just made me remember last night and worry that something equally as stupid could happen again tonight, but this time your _daughter_ would be around to witness it!"

"Kate, she doesn't watch me when I sleep, so she wouldn't see anything."

"Maybe not, but she's still in the same house."

"And besides, it wasn't stupid."

"Castle, there is no way we are sharing a-"

"Dad, catch!" They heard the voice a split second before they looked toward the kitchen and saw a bag of marshmallows fly toward Castle's face in a surprisingly accurate throw. "Marshmallows. I didn't want to try to carry the bag along with the cups of hot chocolate." And she disppeared back into the kitchen while her dad reached up and plunked the bag of fluffy whiteness from the air.

At the surprise interruption, Kate took a deep breath. Her explanation wasn't going so well, and Castle seemed to be enjoying it immensely, that infuriating man! "Castle-"

"Kate, don't. Just don't," he said in a low voice to match hers, as his hand reached over along the expanse of the couch to cover hers. "What's done is done, and there was no harm done last night. Alexis wasn't around, so it's all fine. Let's just enjoy our hot chocolate, and our marshmallows, and our movie, okay?"

And she thought again as she looked at him-that infurating man! How did he manage to sound so reasonable? But she didn't really have much time to think about it because just then, Alexis came out of the kitchen with the mugs of hot chocolate.

Kate took the steaming mug and then scooped some marshmallows out of the bag that Castle was holding out to her, as Alexis grabbed the remote and queued up the movie. So they sat, sipping their hot chocolate through the beginning of the movie, silent. Alexis glanced at the two adults now and then, wondering what was going on. She felt that something had changed ever since they'd sat down but she still couldn't pinpoint exactly what.

All at once, Alexis got an inspiration. "Hey, let's turn the movie to French!" Kate looked at her with a questioning look on her face. "You know, in the DVD options where you can choose the language?"

"Oh, you mean like you used to do with Stuart Little?" Rick asked his daughter excitedly. "That might be fun." Leaning around her, he told Kate, "She would watch the second Stuart Little movie over and over and _over_ again. Then one time I sat on the remote and it switched to a different language. She giggled so hard when Stuart Little was speaking German that she fell off the couch."

"Dad! I did _not_ fall off the couch! You pushed me!"

Kate listened to the two of them, enjoying their exchange. "You pushed your daughter off the couch, Castle?" she asked him in a slightly disapproving tone.

"No! Well, not really. Well, maybe a little bit. But it was kind of her fault!" he whined. "I sat on the remote, and it kind of turned the movie to German. Alexis started giggling, but then I must have hit the volume too, because it got louder and louder. And the louder it got, the more she giggled."

"Why didn't you just turn it down?" Kate felt she had to ask the obvious.

"Because apparently Dad's butt was numb or something and he didn't realize that he'd sat on the remote, so he didn't know what was happening right away when it turned to German. I did because I'd put the remote there before he so _rudely_ sat on it," she continued, letting out a little huff, "but it was a part where the Falcon was scaring Stuart, and then he just started speaking German and it was so funny and I started laughing and I couldn't stop, and I couldn't even tell him that the remote was under his butt, but then he must have shifted his butt onto the volume button and it just got louder and louder. And at the look on his face, I started laughing more."

"So I eventually figured out it was probably from the remote," Castle continued for his daughter, "and I was trying to find it, and Alexis is giggling, and that German-speaking Falcon was way too distracting..."

"And Grams was there for...what was Grams there for anyway? Well, never mind. But Grams walked up in back of Dad with her hands over her ears as he's kind of staring at the Falcon, and she _shouts_ 'Richard!' at him. She scared him and then he jumped and when he jumped he spilled his drink, and when he spilled his drink-it was ice water-he kind of jumped all the way up and pushed me on the floor."

"You were leaning way over by me so you were in my _way_!" he protested, arguing his innocence.

"I was trying to get you to _move_ so I could get the remote out from under _your_ butt!" she justified.

Kate was watching the father-daughter bantering silently, getting some amusement out of watching Alexis trying to give the unvarnished version of the story while Castle tried to put a spin on it so he didn't look quite so bad. She just sat there and sipped her hot chocolate. When it seemed that they'd reached a lull in their dual protestations over the incident, Kate spoke up and made an observation, keeping her mouth behind her mug as much as she could, because for the life of her, she knew she'd not be able to say it without smirking.

"Geez, Castle, it seems like your butt has really caused a lot of problems for poor Alexis over the years. First you mooning her friends during the tubing incident-on her birthday, no less-and then this...pushing her onto the floor and nearly damaging her hearing because you can't manage to watch where you put your butt? Really, Castle," she finished, shaking her head.

When she'd started talking, both Castles whipped their heads around to look at her. As she continued, Castle's jaw dropped and he looked like he was ready to start protesting. Again. But after she finished her observation, Alexis got a bit smile on her face and then turned back to her dad as she said, "You know, Dad, she's right. Except for the Stuart Little thing came before the tubing incident. And...oh, my gosh! There was that time you slipped on the stairs in my school, and you know what happened with your pants! And there was that time you took me to the Mets game and you sat on the bench...God, I wish I'd connected the dots back then like Kate did just now and I might have had a less embarrassing birthday party. I could've kept your butt far, far away from my friends. Or at least done more to ensure that it would stay completely covered. I wouldn't have had to enter my teenage years with the spectacle of my dad mooning my friends overshadowing what should have been a proud moment in my life."

Kate reached out and put an arm around Alexis in a mock show of sympathy. "It's okay, Alexis." She used the hug to lean close to Alexis' ear and whispered softly, "Just go with me on this." Then, as she pulled back, she looked at Alexis as if she'd just gotten a brilliant inspiration. "Hey, Alexis, I have a great idea! You spend a lot of time here in the summer, at the beach, right?"

Alexis was a little puzzled, but Kate had told her to go with it, so she said "Yes..."

"Great!" Kate said, trying to look very pleased with herself. "Since your dad seems to have such a rebel butt, I think you should follow suit. As soon as spring gets here, we'll go shopping and get you a new bikini with a thong bottom!"

Even though Kate had warned her, Alexis wasn't quite prepared for _that_ suggestion. And her face showed her shock as her eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped into a little 'o' as she stared at Kate. But luckily she was facing Kate, with her dad in back of her, so he couldn't see her reaction. Then something in Kate's eyes snapped her back into what she realized now was the joke Kate was trying to play on her dad. So Alexis winked at Kate to let her know that she understood, and she said very brightly, "Oh, that would be _great_! I've been wanting to get a new suit or two before summer! I'd love to get a thong! Everyone's wearing them now anyway."

At Kate's sly smile, Alexis knew her reaction had been what Kate was looking for. She turned around to face her dad after she heard him huff out a breath of air as if someone had punched him. She found his mouth opening and closing like a fish, with no sound coming out. Direct hit, Alexis thought. She continued a bit, saying, "Dad, isn't that nice of Kate? She's going to take me shopping for a new swimsuit!"

Finally, he managed to sputter, "Nice? Th-th-thong? No. No! NOT nice!"

"What's wrong, Rick? You can't expect her to wear last year's swimsuit. That's so...last year. All of her friends will laugh at her."

"She can get a new suit. Preferably one that's one piece." Then, under his breath, but still loud enough for them to hear, he added, "And one that has a cute little skirt or something."

"Oh, come on, Rick," Kate chided as Alexis gave an eye-roll. "Don't be a fuddy-duddy. There's nothing wrong with a thong. They're very popular with the younger crowd."

"Not that young! And not for Alexis!" he protested vehemently to Kate, looking right past Alexis, although he suddenly grabbed her and clutched her to his chest in a fierce hug as if he was going to protect her from all of the evils of the world. "She's sweet, and she's innocent, and she doesn't need to be walking around our beach like she's some...some...this isn't a nude beach on the French Riviera!"

Alexis pushed back against him and sat up. "Geez, Dad, you're smooshing me!"

"You are NOT getting a thong!"

Alexis decided it was time to put him out of his misery. "Nope, I'm not."

"You're absolutely right! You are way...you're not?" he asked as his brows knit and he looked puzzled.

"No."

"No? Then why..." Then his eyes found Kate, who was sitting back in the corner of the couch, trying not to smile.

When his eyes met hers, she said, "God, Castle! You are just so easy."

"You were...you're not going to take her shopping?"

"Oh, I'll be happy to take her shopping if she wants to go. But I'm not even her mother and I can tell you that I would not let her buy a thong."

"You wouldn't?"

"No, Castle, I wouldn't."

"And it's a moot point anyway," Alexis interjected, "because there is no way I would wear a thong."

"You wouldn't?" he parrotted again, but this time to his daughter.

"No. Let's just say your exposure incident at my birthday party kind of scarred me to the point where I really don't want to intentionally repeat that myself. Even with my friends." And she gave a shudder like she had in the kitchen.

He sat back against the corner of the couch that he was in, letting his heart rate return to normal. He cast furtive glances at both of the females who were sharing the couch with him. "You two are mean," he told them.

"And we both know you're a Daddy-bear," Kate told him, "but really, Castle, sometimes you just need to chill."

"Easy for you to say," he replied to Kate.

"Look at it this way, Rick," she said, inadvertently using his first name. He caught it and his eyes swung up to hers, but she didn't notice as she was making her point. "Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Alexis, but Rick, do you really think that there's any way that she would get a thong bikini when she knows you would probably see it?"

Alexis shuddered again. "That's kind of...gross, Dad. It's kind of like me seeing you and Kate playing tonsil-" She cut herself off then, with a quick hand over her mouth as her eyes got wide once again. Oops. "Never mind," she finished in a high-pitched, cheery voice.

Kate put a hand over her own mouth as she realized what Alexis was about to say. But she just thought it was because of what she'd witnessed in the kitchen a little while ago; she had no idea that Alexis had witnessed several other moments of the same type of thing, either through personal observation or through looking through the pictures on her Grams' phone after she'd gotten home. And Alexis hoped that it would stay that way, if she could just keep her mouth shut about it. And if her Grams could too.

"Uh..." Kate said as she attempted to fill the silence and do something, anything, to get past the awkward moment. Then she thought of the perfect thing.

"Uh...Rick? All thoughts of thongs aside, can I ask for clarification on something?"

"Uh...sure, I guess."

"What in the world is Stuart Little, and just how in the hell can a Falcon talk, in German or in any other language?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The credits to Stuart Little 2 rolled onto the screen, and Alexis decided to excuse herself to go to bed. She touched Kate's arm as she said, "I'm glad we could broaden your horizons by introducing you to Stuart Little. I'm still a little amazed that you'd never seen it, and didn't even know what it was!"

"Well, Alexis, thank you for enlightening me. And Stuart really did speak pretty good French, for a mouse, that is."

After the Castle duo had gotten over their shock that Kate didn't even know who or what Stuart Little was, they looked at each other and Alexis got up from the couch to immediately change the movie. "This was her favorite movie when it came out on DVD, so I made sure we had a copy here as well as in the city."

Soon, after they'd explained the premise of the first movie, Kate got caught up in the sequel movie. She saw the actors who played the parents, and she asked "Hey, isn't that...", referring to a popular actor who was very acerbic in his regular role on a hit series.

"This is about as much of a departure from his other persona as it can be. That's part of the fun for me...I keep waiting for him to say something totally insulting like the other character does, and it never happens," Rick told her.

When they got to the part where the Falcon was threatening Stuart, Kate put two and two together and asked if this was the part they'd been talking about. When they said yes, Kate clandestinely took the remote and turned the language to German with the push of a few buttons. When Alexis heard it, she looked at Kate in astonishment before collapsing in laughter. Rick smiled too, and when Alexis was occupied with her laughter, he caughter Kate's eye and gave her a little wink, combined with a sultry little grin. She did a double-take, because she really didn't expect a look like _that_ in the middle of a kids' movie, but there it was. So she looked at him and ran her tongue over her lips, and then puckered them up as if to give him a little air kiss. He obviously didn't expect her to play along because the teasing smile dropped off his face and he gave a little gulp.

But they couldn't go any further because Alexis had recovered by then. They watched the rest of the movie in a combination of a bit of English but mostly French, which turned out to be a really good exercise for Alexis since she knew all of the dialog by heart already, so she could hear how that dialog sounded in French.

After Alexis went upstairs, she and Rick just looked at each other. "So, are you opposed to scooting over here by me and stretching your leg out on the couch?" he asked her.

"I suppose that could work. I could use a change of position." He raised his arm as she maneuvered herself over by him, and he wasted no time in wrapping that arm around her. Her intent was only to lean against him and cuddle, but after he wrapped that arm around her, he kept going and pushed her down over his lap against the armrest of the couch, so she was effectively laying down and staring up at him. And when she was in that position, he also wasted no time in in claiming those lips that had been taunting him a bit earlier.

When she felt herself being pushed down and saw Castle's face descending toward hers, she'd thought she'd be outraged. How dare he? But once their lips touched, she couldn't complain. In fact, she couldn't think of much, if any, rational thought. If she'd been able to think about it, she would have realized that she was craving his touch. But as it was, with his lips moving over hers, and with his tongue teasing hers, she didn't want to think. Because _feeling_ was so much better than thinking.

His plundering of her mouth was driving her insane, and she just wanted more of the insanity. The hell with laying down; she needed leverage. She pressed herself upward toward him and then she boosted herself closer and closer, until she finally boosted herself onto his lap. And they never broke the kiss. When he felt her weight on his upper legs, it was a heady feeling and he drove his fingers through her dark tresses and made sure that her mouth didn't leave his, as he gently massaged the back of her head and alternately combed his fingers through the silky strands of her hair.

When she made a breathy little sound inthe back of her throat, she pulled away and buried her face in his neck. They could both feel the other's labored breathing as they tried to recover from the quick intensity of the kiss. Finally, Rick spoke. "I've wanted to do that all night."

"Yeah," she said simply, breathlessly, and really, it could have meant almost anything. He took it to mean the same thing as what he'd meant.

"Thongs," he then said, shaking his head and thinking about how she-they-had played on his parental insecurities.

"Yeah. I mean, no. Not for Alexis. But maybe I'll wear mine sometime," she said absently.

She wasn't prepared when he pulled back so suddenly, so forcefully that she was scared that she'd gotten whiplash. "Wha...What?" he stammered.

Then she realized what she'd said. And though part of her was a bit mortified for revealing that to him, especially with his imagination and with things still up in the air between them, she still smiled at him and said, "Yes, Castle, I just _might_ own a bikini. One with...that type...of bottom."

Really, it had been a mail-order mix-up, one that she'd never had the time to return and correct. So she had, sitting deep in her drawer in her apartment, one bikini with a thong bottom instead of the normal bottom she'd ordered. She never knew exactly why she'd kept it. But now, some visions were dancing in her brain. Entirely inappropriate, but extremely enticing visions. But visions she had no business thinking about right now.

And she could see that the same visions were going through his mind. And she regretted her words, because despite the obvious chemistry between them, she still wasn't convinced that those thoughts, which were of them on beaches _months_ in the future, were feasible or viable. And when she wasn't sure about things yet, it wasn't fair to either one of them to make those types of comments.

So she pulled his head to hers for one more kiss, before she sat up fully, and boosted herself off of his lap onto the cushion next to him. "Kate..." she heard him say.

She turned back to him. "I'm sorry, Rick, I shouldn't have said that. I'm still not sure of things, and that was an unfair comment to make when we don't know where things will be between us when bikini time comes around again."

Oh, _he_ knew where things would be, if he had anything to say about it. But he knew Kate, and he knew she needed to come to that conclusion in her own time. And he was determined that she _would_ come to that conclusion, one way or another. So as much as he wanted to haul her back onto his lap and plunder her delicious mouth some more, he followed her lead and nodded at her statement. "So are you going to bed now?" he asked.

She was surprised by his capitulation, but she wasn't going to question it. "Yes," she said simply.

They both rose from the couch, her grabbing her crutches, and they made their way upstairs, with him behind her just to spot her on the stairs. When they got to her room, she told him he could go, but he insisted on waiting to make sure she didn't need something. He'd taken all of her items from the his bathroom and transferred them to hers earlier, at her insistence that it be done before Alexis somehow saw. So she went into her bathroom to change, while he sat on the chair and waited for her to come out. She crutch-hopped over to the bed and sat down. "Thanks, Castle."

"You don't need anything else?" He sounded so hopeful, like he would be thoroughly happy if she sent him on an errand to do something for her. Martha's words about him helping her and taking care of her-and about him caring for her-rang through her head.

But she shook her head no.

"I can stay. You know, we can just talk until you fall asleep or something. Or we can play crazy eights." She wasn't sure where the crazy eights suggestion had come from, but it almost seemed as though he was reluctant to leave the room.

And when she was looking at the floor the whole time obviously conflicted about something, he felt the need to say something further. "Kate?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Castle, do you have your phone on you?" she asked, not really answering his question. But he nodded yes.

"Good. It has a clock, I presume?"

"Yeah." Where was she going with this?

"Good. Why don't you set your alarm for five or six o'clock, and then get over here and we can try to get some sleep until then. Then you can go back to your own bed so nobody knows that you were in here. Because you don't seem to be in any hurry to leave now, and I'm really not in any mood to play crazy eights or twenty questions with you just so you can stay awake. Okay?" She finally looked at him after she finished talking.

"That sounds good. Six?" Given the choice, he was going to go with the latest time possible. He did just as she asked and set the alarm, and then set the phone on the table by the side of the bed. Then he had a thought, and said, "I'll be right back...I just have to grab my pajama pants." And he scurried from the room.

He probably broke a land speed record for changing clothes, because he was back in her room and crawling into the bed with her inside of a minute. He moved toward her and lightly wrapped an arm around her, and was secretly pleased when she put her arm around his and entwined their fingers. "'Night, Rick," she said, sounding sleepy.

"'Night, Kate," he replied. And he drifted to sleep with the slightest smile on his face. And he would have been tickled to know that she did too.

* * *

_**Wow, that turned out longer than I expected! Actually, I just checked...longest chapter for this story, ever. And for me, I cranked it out pretty fast, considering how long some things have taken me recently. So for those of you who stuck with this story through the LONG hiatus while I finished 'The Plan', there's your reward, along with my sincere thanks.**_

_**Has anyone ever done that with a DVD...change the language? It's pretty funny, especially when you've seen the movie in question many, many times. **_

_**I know I've been out of the 'Blizzard' scene for a while, so I really hope this was in keeping with the tone of this story. I'd love to hear what you think, so please drop me a line (pm me if you'd rather not leave a review). **_

_**Oh, and, as promised, the directions for five-layer brownies: Take any old brownie mix. You can get away with using a store brand if you want (people will still say it's awesome...trust me). After you get the batter mixed up, add a bunch of chocolate chips to the batter and mix them in. Milk chocolate chips. No, I don't know how many...it's not a recipe, remember? But I'd say maybe 1/3 of a package. Pour the whole thing in a pan and bake. Let cool. Nuke a jar of marshmallow creme for about 15 seconds (top off). That makes it easier to spread. Spread the mm creme on the cooled brownies with a spoon or spatula. Drizzle chocolate sauce over the mm creme. Crush up a bunch of oreos and put the crushed oreos on top of the whole mess. Smoosh them down into the mm creme. If you want more chocolate, get some mini chocolate chips and mix them in with the crushed oreos. **_

_**That's it. Easy, but very gooey and very good. Enjoy!**_


	27. Chapter 27

_**For those of you who are reading this because of alerts, welcome back and thanks for being patient while I worked on another little story, "Out of Context". But this is another reasonably long chapter, and it has some fluff and (hopefully) humor, so I hope you enjoy it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; I just send the wrath of Mother Nature down on them with blizzards, and I make them clumsy so they hurt themselves. That makes me sound really bad, doesn't it? But at least I got them together, so that has to count for something, right?**_

* * *

_Previously:_

_Kate and Castle spent the evening watching movies with Alexis, but sat apart. Kate and Alexis teamed up to give Castle some grief about his Daddy-bear tendencies. Alexis went to bed, and then the two adults snuggled on the couch before making out a bit. Castle escorted Kate to bed, and he didn't want to leave. He tried to stall and offered to play crazy eights with her. Finally, she told him he could sleep in her room but he had to set the alarm on his phone for six a.m. so he could go back into his own room so his mother or daughter didn't see that he'd stayed with her._

* * *

When she awoke, Kate could see that light was streaming in through the windows in the large room and bathed the room in gleeful sunshine, giving the room a feeling of warmth that she knew was in stark contrast with the cold, snow-encrusted world outside. But warmth that she felt didn't only come from the sunlight in the room; as she came awake, she slowly realized that a lot of it came from the arm that was stretched over her stomach and the sleeping man that was curled around her body. He was on his side, and his top leg was bent and was resting on her own leg just a little. He had his head buried next to hers on the pillow, his face nuzzling the side of hers, and she could feel the tickle of his warm breath on her neck as he exhaled rhythmically in his sleep.

She could feel him, but she couldn't see him because she wasn't facing him. But oh, right now feeling him was enough. She was still feeling fuzzy from sleep and maybe that had something to do with it, but feeling him side of her, cuddled around her when she woke up was like hugging a cherished teddy bear to hug when you were down. It was comforting and it made her feel content and wanted. She turned her face toward his so their foreheads rested together, and she closed her eyes and just wallowed in the rare feeling of contentedness that she felt.

Her mind shut off from the few thoughts she'd had after awakening, and she was almost asleep again when she felt the arm across her stomach tighten and pull her a little closer to the other body in the bed, if that was possible. Her eyes opened lazily, just in time for her to see his eyes open. He pulled back immediately when he saw her face right there in front of his, but then she could see the slow, lazy smile that bloomed on his face when he realized where he was and who he was with. He put his head back in that original position, but then went a little farther as his lips sought hers for a good morning kiss.

After a lazy kiss that matched the lazy smile that was still on his face, Kate told him softly, "Good morning."

"It is indeed." That lazy, somewhat cocky smile just did not seem to want to leave his face.

"What's got you so happy this morning?"

"Any night that I get to sleep like this and wake up to see you right next to me is a cause for a happy morning," he told her, his flair for the dramatic coming through in his words. She was used to his elegant prose, especially when he turned on the charm with the compliments, but something about his words made her almost embarrassed when she heard them. It wasn't that he was overly effusive with what he'd just said, because he hadn't even directly complimented her, but him attributing his early morning happiness to sleeping-and just sleeping-next to her and waking up next to her seemed so...intimate. And sweet. And God! They weren't even officially involved yet. She ignored the little niggly voice at the back of her mind that said the key in that statment was the word 'officially', because like it or not, they _were_ involved. Damn that little voice, and damn the man next to her for looking so damn cute with his bed head and his smile and his damn morning stubble that she just wanted to feel against her face if he kissed her again.

She looked away so she wouldn't get distracted by that grin any longer, and then she fully acknowledged the level of light in the room. She bolted straight up in bed, and she could see the sunshine through the gauzy curtains of the window. Way too much sunshine for six a.m. in the middle of winter in a northern state! She turned worried eyes back to Castle, who now had the grin gone from his face and he was staring at her, puzzled at her sudden move. "Castle, what time is it?"

Since their cuddling moment was obviously gone, he rolled over and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. "Ohhhh," he said, drawing the word out with a worried note in it. "It's about eight thirty. Don't hurt me," he said right away, sounding a little scared, holding up his the hand with the phone to shield his face. "I set the alarm. I really did." Then he pressed a few buttons. "Oh, well, look at that. I guess the volume of the ringer was turned way down." His voice no longer held the scared tone, but instead held his normal Castle brand of wonder.

She looked at him with her own brand of wonder, and hers, at this point, wasn't nearly as good-natured as his was. "The volume was turned down?" she whisper-yelled at him. "Geez, Castle, you were supposed to be out of here three _hours_ ago so your family wouldn't have any potential to see that you stayed with me! What time does Alexis get up?"

"Oh, not for a while yet. She's a teenager, remember?" The unconcerned tone was leaving his voice as he could see that she was not taking this well. "What's wrong? We overslept a little bit, but we got to wake up together, and it was really nice. Wasn't it?"

"Do you know how embarrassing this could be for me if your mother or daughter sees you leave my room, or figures out that you slept in here? God, I should have just played a game of crazy eights with you and sent you on your way last night," she finished, still in her whisper, shaking her head.

"Don't worry about it. Both of the other females in the house are probably still asleep and probably will be for at least another hour."

"You'd better be right about that." She looked and him, but he just sat there in the bed. She made a 'get on with it' gesture. "What are you waiting for? Why don't you get going back to your room then?" she whispered.

He regarded her for a long moment, and then his face lightened with a slight grin. "A kiss," he answered softly in response to his question.

She looked at him in amazement. "What? What are you talking about?" she hissed in her whisper, exasperated.

"The answer to your question. You asked me what I'm waiting for, and I want a kiss before I go back to my room." He grinned at her again, trying to be charming. But she was having none of it.

"It was a rhetorical question, Castle!" But he just grinned at her and puckered up.

"Castle!" she whisper-yelled at him again, poking at him with her finger. "Get up!"

"Hey!" he protested, rubbing his arm where she'd poked him.

"Get _up_! Come on, Castle! Get in your room! I'm serious! And be careful about it! I don't want anyone seeing you. And no, I will _not_ give you a kiss. If you get back to your room without anyone seeing you, then maybe, _maybe_ you'll get one later. And if you don't, then..." she let the sentence trail off on an ominous note.

"Come on, Kate," he whined, but she merely glared at him in response, pointing her finger at the door.

He knew he was beaten, which caused a small pout to form on his face. "Fine. But I _am_ going to use your bathroom first, because-"

"I get it, Castle." she interrupted. "No need to spell it out. Just hurry up."

He hopped out of bed, puckering up and blowing her a kiss as he went, which caused her to roll her eyes at him. When he was in the bathroom, she moved to the edge of her bed and grabbed her crutches, because she knew she'd soon have to make her way into the bathroom herself. As she got up, she saw Rick coming out of the door and making his way toward her. But before either of them could say anything, a knock sounded at her door.

They both looked at the door, and then at each other. Then another knock sounded, followed by the tentative voice of Alexis saying "Kate? Are you awake?"

The two occupants of the bedroom looked at each other with wide, surprised eyes. Kate recovered first, and silently but forcefully pointed Castle back to the bathroom, even going so far as to lightly whack him in the derierre with her crutch, kind of like a cattle prod. He turned around when he got to the bathroom, and she put her finger over her lips to tell him to keep quiet before she called out, "Yes, Alexis, I'm awake. Just a minute."

Castle was still looking at her, so she waved her hand at him to indicate that he should get out of sight. He nodded quickly and ducked behind the open bathroom door as she got to the main door and opened it. She greeted Alexis, who wasted no time in asking her, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I didn't know where else to look." Then, all of a sudden, the girl looked really uncomfortable at what she'd said, and seemingly started to try to talk herself out of her verbal gaffe, although Kate wasn't quite sure what the problem was. "Oh, my gosh, I'm sorry...I mean, I-"

"Alexis, what _are_ you talking about?"

"I can't find my dad. I was going to ask him about breakfast, and I checked his room and his bed was messed up but he wasn't there. And I checked the rest of the house, even the workout room even though I know there's no way he'd _ever_ work out this early, and he wasn't_ anywhere_! So then I thought I'd check in here, but oh...I'm sorry. That just came out really wrong," she finished, as her quick verbal explosion came to a close.

At the mention of the bed in his room, Kate had never before been so happy about _not_ making a bed; after their last nap the day before, they'd showered and had never gotten around to taking care of the housekeeping duties. So even if he hadn't spent the night there, the bed was at least rumpled so it was conceivable that he could have.

But now Alexis was staring at her, waiting for some sort of an answer. "Well, Alexis, with your dad, who really knows what he could be up to. Maybe he went for a walk or something?"

"The day after a blizzard?"

"Alexis, isn't this the man who bought a piece of Jupiter or something? Who knows what he might be up to." Kate tried to seem nonchalant about the whole thing, hoping it was working.

"It was some land on the moon, and yeah," the girl said, obviously thinking about her father's personality, "I suppose you're right."

Then Kate had an inspiration. "Did you look on the three-season porch?" she asked. "He had to use the fireplace and grill out there while the power was out; maybe he wanted to use it again."

"In the middle of winter? When the power is working fine now?"

"Alexis..."

"Okay, yeah, I know. But you know, it isn't a half-bad idea. You never know with him. I'll go check, and if he's not there, I'll just...wait or something."

"Sounds good. I'll be down in a little while and if he still hasn't turned up, then I can help you play detective. I'm pretty good at it, you know," she said, winking at the girl. "But I'm just going to clean up a bit first."

Alexis agreed and took off down the stairs, and once Kate made sure she was out of sight, she quietly closed the door and said, "Okay, Castle. You can come out now."

He walked over to where she was, which was rummaging around in her suitcase. As he reached her, she shoved her iPod into his hands and started to push him toward the door.

"What's this for?"

"Go take the quickest shower ever. And then go downstairs and be listening to my iPod when you get there. Pretend like you were in your room the whole time; in the bathroom. Tell her I let you use it last night to fall asleep or something and you were listening to it again and you didn't hear her knocking."

He stared at her in amazement. "Are you sure _I'm_ the author? That was a pretty good cover story you just cooked up out of nowhere."

"Yeah, well, necessity is the mother of invention, or I guess fabrication in this instance. But will you get going already?" she told him, giving him another shove toward the door.

"Pushy, pushy! Are you like this with all of the guys you don't invite to play crazy eights with you?"

"No, just the ones who don't even know how to work their own phones enough to turn up a damn ringer and also have very inquisitive daughters running around looking for them. Now _go_ or no more kisses will be forthcoming for a long time, if _ever_," she punctuated with a raised eyebrow and a stern look.

And then, recognizing that look on her face, he cautiously looked out of her door, and when he found the hallway empty, scurried to his own room. And when he was gone, Kate was left wondering when simply getting up in the morning had ever been quite that eventful or filled with quite that much subterfuge.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She managed to manuever herself around the shower in 'her' room well enough, even though she did miss the shower in Castle's room with the built-in shower seats. There were enough built in bars and handles that she could use to help herself hop around, although the seat would have been nice so she could take a more leisurely time to bathe. But she managed, and she made doubly sure that the bathroom door was locked so she didn't have to worry about a repeat of the day before when Castle had walked in on her.

After she finished with the shower, she was starting to make her way downstairs when she realized that her hands were a little tender. It seems that Castle was right again; with not being able to put weight on her bad leg, she was now essentially supporting her body weight with her hands while she walked, and they simply weren't used to that and were rebelling now. Sure, she could punch and she could spar, but she was finding that this was different; this was almost constant, if she wanted to move anywhere. And her situation probably wasn't helped by her going on a crutch-assisted marathon of activity when after her visit to the hospital the day before, just like Castle had warned her about. And she really hated it when Castle was right.

When she got to the stairs, she decided the easiest thing to do would be to sit down and scoot down on her bottom. She got down to the first floor quite easily, and then used the crutches once again as she made her way toward the kitchen where she heard some voices. As she rounded the corner, she saw Alexis talking animatedly to her father, who appeared to be cooking something. Before they saw her, she heard Castle say to Alexis, "Hey, watch this!" And he took the spatula he was holding, scooped what she could now see was a pancake off a griddle, and flipped it up in the air with a flourish and a flip of his wrist. She watched as it flew up in the air, flipped, and landed...in a mushy mess right on top of a container of cooking utensils that was sitting out on the counter.

"Dad! Yuck!"

"Oh...that didn't go quite like I planned it," he said, looking as if he were trying to figure out just where he might have gone wrong.

Kate decided that was a good time to interrupt them. "So, Alexis, I see you found him. But from the looks of that mess," she told her, indicating the gooey glop of pancake mess resting over the previously-clean container of spoons, spatulas and other utensils, "maybe you should have let him be lost for a little while longer."

Both sets of blue eyes shot over to her. "Beckett! You're awake! I'm making pancakes!" He winked at her, oh so quickly but out of Alexis' sight. She had to hand it to him...he seemed genuinely surprised that she was awake, when he already knew it because she, herself, had woken up with him barely thirty minutes before.

"No," she corrected dryly, "it appears that you're making a mess. I mean, really, Castle, even I know that if you want to do theatrical pancake flipping, you don't do it until the pancake has cooked at least a little bit on both sides."

At her dry response, he made a face at her and said, "Well good morning to you too, Miss Perfect Pancake Princess. See if I put extra blueberries in your pancakes after that remark."

"What's wrong, Castle, can't take a little constructive criticism?" She started to hobble around the counter in to the main part of the kitchen, inwardly wincing at putting pressure on her tender hands again. "And you don't need to put extra blueberries in my pancakes, because I'm taking over."

"Excuse me...You're _what_? You?" he asked, surprise evident in his face.

"You heard me, and yes, me. How did you make the batter?"

"I'll have you know that it's from the organic food store, made with hand-milled flour," he said haughtily, and somewhat defensively.

"So it's from a mix," Kate volleyed, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I suppose _technically_ it's from a mix, but-"

Kate turned to Alexis and cut Castle off. "Alexis," she asked, "would you like to learn the secret ingredients to make the world's best pancakes?"

"Uh...sure. I guess," she replied, surprised at being drawn into the conversation-heck, that the two of them still even knew she was there-and starting to smirk as she observed her dad and Kate and all of their good-natured bickering.

"Hey," Rick interjected, "there's nothing wrong with a mix. Everything is premeasured and combined in exactly the right combination. And it's organic!"

She looked back at him and pointed a finger at him in a challenge. "Fine. We'll make both. And then we'll see whose is better."

"Aha! A wager...what are we playing for?" he asked.

"Ooo, Castle, always the better, aren't you? But okay, if I win...let's see." She tried to think of something that would work for a good payment. Then her mind flitted back to the blizzard, and she had the perfect thing. "If mine are better, then you have to give me piggy back rides whereever I want to go, for the rest of the day." She tried not to smile too much, because she was pretty sure she'd win, and then she wouldn't have to use her crutches and she could let her hands rest, and he would be none the wiser. She'd have won the bet, _and_ he would have no idea that he'd been right about her hands hurting from the crutches.

After thinking about it, he nodded his head. "And if I win, then..." He thought about it, and then he got a sneaky smile on his face and said, "I've got it. If I win, then you have to go to dinner with me when we get back to the city."

She stared at him, hardly believing he'd just said that. Oh, that sneak! He'd just totally circumvented the agreement they had about becoming involved, by making _that_ payoff into the payoff for him winning this bet! And he did it in front of his daughter so she couldn't even call him on it!

"But Castle," she reasoned sweetly, "taking me to dinner makes it seem like that's more of a gift for me rather than a punishment. If you win fair and square, I couldn't possibly let you reward me in such a nice way for your win."

"What's wrong, my dear Detective? Can't take a friendly wager? Trying to get out of it already? Tsk tsk." He stepped closer to her as he talked, issuing the challenge with his body language as well as his words.

Without her heels on, he seemed taller than she was accustomed to. But she still accepted the challenge by leaning closer to him. "Oh, I can take a wager, Castle. But don't start making dinner reservations quite yet. Because my pancakes _are_ the best. Prepare to be beaten."

He matched the challenge in her voice, but the next words out of his mouth made the whole challenging tone and theme of the conversation seem that much more ridiculous. "Then at least my stomach will be happy, Detective."

They were snapped out of their almost nose-to-nose staring contest by a snort and a giggle. They looked over at Alexis, who was observing them with an amused look on her face. "Nice, Dad. For the future, if you want to appear menacing and confident in your wager, then don't talk about your stomach being happy. It just kills the whole mood you're trying to create."

Snapped out of their conversation, Kate recovered her wits. She didn't look at Rick again, not wanting to run the risk of getting caught up in those twinkling blue eyes of his. She asked Alexis, "Can you help me gather ingredients as soon as your dad leaves?"

"I have to leave?" Rick interrupted, obviously put out.

"Yes, you have to leave."

"It's my kitchen!"

"Castle, how am I supposed to show your daughter a secret recipe if you're right here?"

"But I told you how to make the five-layer brownies!" he argued.

"But you also insisted that it wasn't a recipe. This is. And it's secret. Besides, I'm passing it to your progeny, so that's almost the same. So scram. Oh, but first, can you bring one of the stools in here so I can take a load off my good leg?"

Shaking his head, he stalked toward the other side of the counter to get the stool. "Do this. Do that. Dissing my perfectly good pancakes. Ordering me around, and yes, of course it's _your_ kitchen, but you still have to leave." He kept up a litany of pouty complaints under his breath as he procured the chair for Kate, talking to himself, but still loud enough for the females to hear. Kate just rolled her eyes and Alexis continued to smirk.

"Really, Dad," Alexis said as he put stool in front of the counter for Kate as she sat down. "Why don't you go check the fan sites for a little while we do this. You can bask in the adoration of all of the fangirls. You know that will make you feel better. But try not to count the grammatical errors, okay? That'll just make you mad." Alexis turned to Kate and explained, "Do you know how many times he gets comments like 'you're awesome' or 'you're the best', but the people write Y-O-U-R instead of Y-O-U apostrophe R-E? It bugs the merde out of him."

Kate would have rolled her eyes at the grammar thing, especially given their conversation about apostrophes from a few days before, but she was caught off-guard by how easily Alexis slipped the somewhat off-color French term into her statement. And it made just that much more humorous, and she started laughing.

Rick, totally not understanding what Kate found so funny, gave them both an exasperated look. "I still think apostrophe misuse is a crime of the English language. It's so tiny...how can it possibly be so difficult to use it correctly?" He pointed his finger at them both. "But for dissing my pancakes when you haven't even tasted them, and then kicking me out of my own kitchen, all I can say is that you'd better make some pretty awesome pancakes, ladies." He shook his finger at them once more before he made a dramatic exit by turning around on his heel with military precision and stalking out of the kitchen.

Alexis tried to explain, "I think it's safe to say that he definitely inherited Grams' flair for the dramatic."

"And all of that over pancakes." They just shook their heads at each other, and then they got to work.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

His cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk, but the look on his face was one of sheer delight combined with utter amazement. Martha was trying to gauge his reaction before she took a bite herself, but what she saw was evidently enough to make alleviate her concerns, so she, too, cut a bite and delicately placed it into her mouth.

Kate sat back in her chair, smug expression on her face, but she didn't say a word as she waited for the first assessments from her two taste testers. She was content to just sit back and wait until they brought forth their comments, but Alexis, who had done her own taste test before they'd brought the huge plate of pancakes to the table, was so anxious for their reaction that she couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Come on, Dad, we totally whipped your butt in the pancake wars. Admit it. Kate's pancakes are to die for."

He swallowed-thank goodness-and looked at them all, the mask of boredom once again in place on his face. "Well, they do have a unique blend of flavors. It's definitely unusual. They are sufficiently fluffy, but there's something...oh, come on, Beckett, don't look at me like that! They're incredible and you know it! I just couldn't give in _that_ easily! Now, if I'm going to be carrying you around all day, you'd better give me some more of those pancakes." He held out his plate even though he still had part of the first one left.

"Don't you take all of them, Dad! I still need some."

"As do I, Richard," Martha interjected, speaking for the first time. "Kate, dear, I've never liked a lot for breakfast, but goodness, I don't know if I'll be able to stop eating these! They are quite amazing!"

"Thank you, Martha. And Rick, there are more in the kitchen for you, some with blueberries and some with chocolate chips. I just gave you a plain one to try first so you could get the full effect of the taste without the other stuff mixed in."

His eyes got big. "You made me chocolate chip pancakes?" She nodded. "And they're chocolate chip _these_ kind of pancakes?" She nodded again and a smile bloomed across his face. "Oh, my God, what a woman!" And he jumped out of the chair, grabbed her face and planted a big, loud, smacking kiss on her lips before he abruptly released her and ran into the kitchen, presumably in search of the chocolate chip pancakes.

"I think he likes your breakfast, dear," Martha said dryly as she cut herself another piece.

Kate just gave a strange half-smile to the older woman; she was still a little stunned from Rick's reaction to chocolate chip pancakes and his surprise kiss afterwards. Especially the surprise kiss, which he of course gave her with typical Castle aplomb right in front of his mother and daughter. Even though they knew that she and Castle were some form of involved, it was still odd to have him do that right in front of them. Kate looked to Alexis and said, "Sorry," referring to the promise to keep the PDAs to a minimum.

"Not your fault," the girl replied as she shrugged. "But I guess you realize how much my dad likes his chocolate chip pancakes, huh?"

Kate was saved from answering as Castle returned from the kitchen with two plates, one piled high with blueberry pancakes and the other with chocolate chip pancakes. Based on what she said earlier, he handed Kate the plate of the blueberry variety and she lifted some onto her plate. She couldn't resist asking him, "So since we did kick you out of _your_ kitchen, after all, do they pass muster? Are they awesome enough for you?"

He-_he_-rolled his eyes at her as if to say 'duh' before cutting off a big piece and popping it happily in his mouth. And two Castles, one Beckett and one Rodgers proceeded to dig into the breakfast with happy smiles.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kate made good on her promise to have Castle carry her places as her payment for winning the pancake bet. After he carried her around for a bit, she requested that he carry her into the library, where he set her down by the couch and then collapsed on the couch next to her after she settled herself. The man had invaded her personal space from the first cases they'd worked together, but now, with this new change in their relationship, he invaded it even more, if that was possible.

He wasted no time in putting his arm around her and nuzzling her neck with a kiss. "I've wanted to do that for a while. Especially when I'm carrying you and I can feel your breath by my ear. Do you have any idea how distracting that is? You're lucky I didn't drop you."

She did know how distracting it was, because he was doing something similar to her now. "Distracting, huh? Maybe you just need to focus better."

"I rather like what I'm focusing on right now," he told her in a low voice, nipping her earlobe with his teeth.

She turned her head toward him and gave him a kiss, but then pulled away and laid her head on his shoulder. "Why am I sleepy already?" she asked, puzzled. "I've only just eaten breakfast and I haven't even done anything the last few days."

"Sure you have. You're healing, and just that'll wipe you out a little bit. Do you want me to carry you upstairs so you can have a nap before we get going?"

His words had her lifting her head to look at him questioningly. "Get going? Where are we going?"

Now it his turn to look at her with some surprise. "What do you mean? We have to go back to the city. Alexis has school tomorrow. I mean, I'm assuming they're dug out by now. I was thinking we could leave mid-afternoon."

To say Kate was surprised would be putting it mildly, although she hid most of it pretty well. With a start, she realized that the thought of leaving his luxurious house, of being done with this little getaway, of going back to her apartment and the normal day-to-day made her a little...sad? No, that couldn't be. She'd be happy to get back. Yeah. But then she saw that Rick was looking at her, obviously waiting for an answer. "Oh, yeah. Sure. The city. That sounds fine."

But Rick Castle could read Kate Beckett as well as she could read him. "You forgot we had to go back today, didn't you?"

"No!" was her immediate response, but then when she saw the knowing smirk on his face, she relented and came clean, mainly because she knew he'd bring it up incessantly if she didn't. "Well, maybe _for the moment_ I forgot. I guess time got away from me and I didn't realize what day it was. _For the moment_. You have to admit that it hasn't been exactly _normal_ here, with me spraining my ankle and then us losing power. I still can't believe that _you_ don't have a generator!"

His smirk didn't diminish. "And, of course, there's this..." he said, his words trailing off as he touched his lips to hers ever so gently at first. "Which happened here..." he continued before kissing her again quickly before he pulled away to say, "...and now seems to happen every so often, which I have to admit I'm enjoying a lot." He lowered his lips to hers again, and was now moving those lips over hers with a little more pressure before he eased away again. "I can see why you wouldn't want to give that up."

She gave him an 'oh, brother' type of Beckett glare before she said "You are just _so_ full of yourself."

"Didn't see you complaining, Detective," he smugly replied.

She decided to ignore that statement. "Well, Castle, getaways are nice, but you're right. We do have to go back to the real world. So yes, mid-afternoon sounds fine." And then he just stared at her without saying anything, like he was busy thinking. She'd seen him do it before, but it was still creepy. "What?" she finally asked.

"I have to say that it makes me very happy to realize that despite everything, you seem to have enjoyed yourself. But you know, I think I have a solution to extending our little escape. You'll need help for a few days, until you see your doctor and get okayed to start put weight on your ankle. So why don't you just stay in our guest bedroom at the loft for a while?"

Once more, she looked at him in surprise. "Did you just invite me to move in with you for a while? Are you _insane_? Castle, I have a sprained ankle, I'm not paralyzed. I'll be fine."

"Kate, you can't even walk on your crutches because your hands hurt." At his proclamation, her eyes got big and she started sputtering. He held up a hand. "Don't think I didn't see through your motives of that little condition of winning the pancake bet. And add that to the look on your face when you use the crutches...yeah, I figured it out."

Damn that man's observation skills! She thought she'd hid her discomfort pretty well. But there was no way... "Castle, thank you for the offer, but there's no way I'm moving into your guest room, even for a few days. My apartment is perfectly fine. _ I'll _be fine. Now, should we go get packed?"

She stood up, and he had no choice but to follow her lead. He knew from the tone of her voice that the discussion was closed for now.

For now.

* * *

_**That's it for this chapter. After the last line, you should cue that evil little laugh in your head. I wanted to put that in there, but I couldn't figure out how to write it. And oh, the grin that Castle had when he gets in the elevator on the way to see Forbidden Planet? Yeah, he's wearing that grin at the end of this chapter. Hee hee. **_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. As you could tell from the last part of the chapter, we're nearing the end of this story. Gotta get that kid of his back to school, ya know?**_

_**So...review, send me a PM, let me know what you like...the usual. I love to hear from you all! Really**_

_**And thanks so much for reading!**_

_**(And now that that's done, can I just say SIX MORE DAYS! Hard to believe that the endless 4 months is almost up! And that last sneak peek...um...wow. The premiere is going to be riveting.)**_

**_And by the way, I have no recipe for those awesome pancakes...I made it up. But I figured that was safe, since Beckett said in 'Boom' that her mom was a great breakfast cook, so I figured she'd have a great pancake recipe. And of course, Castle would just HAVE to have chocolate chip pancakes, right?_**


	28. Chapter 28

_**As I started writing this chapter, a thought occurred to me and I had to go back and check the last chapter of this story to make sure. And when I saw it, I couldn't believe that the last two words of Chapter 27, "For now," actually became somewhat of the theme for Season 4, during "Rise". Now, I know the circumstances were totally different, but I thought that was just a little freaky. I even posted something about it after the show in the post episode discussion on the main fan site, and I didn't even make the connection then. Cool coincidence!**_

_**I make some, uh, mechanical assumptions in this chapter. All of it is purely from my imagination. So if you are mechanically inclined or have experience in this particular subject and it's utterly ridiculous, please just suspend reality in favor of plot advancement.**_

_**Note: at the end of the first section break, I've put a french word in there; it's not a typo. **_

_**Lastly, a belated welcome to .Kate, who read-and reviewed-every single chapter of first 'The Plan' and then 'Blizzard' in the last few weeks. And thanks to so many of you wonderful people who take the time to leave me wonderful notes in your reviews or PMs...Liv Wilder, Amybf19, Little Lizzie Zentara, Tazman10, FanficwriterGHC, Mark C, SilverStella, BlueJay, Castellum, Beetlebug, Steve1961, Stargwynn, I'm Widget, Ariel119, MyNameIsJeffNImLost, Tango Mike Charlie, Music Marauder, Bella Paige, Teelduo...and tons of other people who I know I've missed. I hope you keep reading. :)**_

_**Disclaimers: the usual. See previous chapters. **_

* * *

"So, are you comfortable?" Castle quickly glanced at Kate in the back seat before returning his eyes to the road once again.

"That's seven," Alexis immediately whispered to Kate, even before Kate could formulate a response to his question. The two younger ladies were once again sitting in the back of Castle's large SUV

"Perfectly fine, Castle," Kate replied with a slightly annoyed edge to her tone.

"What's seven?" Castle asked, obviously having heard his daughter's whisper.

"The number of times," Alexis told him, "that you've asked Kate about her leg since we left The Hamptons."

Even though the conversation was about her, Kate just let Alexis handle it. Alexis is the one who noticed it in the first place-that her dad kept asking about Kate's ankle. Being the wordsmith that he was, he found new and creative ways of asking her the same question over and over again, with his latest count now being up to seven. And they'd barely been on the road for half an hour.

"I'll have you know, missy," Rick told his daughter in a haughty tone, "that I said absolutely nothing in my question about her leg. Nothing whatsoever. So _there_."

"Come on, Dad. I know you well enough to know exactly what you meant. And Kate does too. Grams could probably even figure it out, if she wasn't listening to Beethoven and trying to conduct the invisible orchestra on your hood." Martha was paying them no attention; she had her headphones in and was actively-very actively-listening to what appeared to be a very lively classical composition where she sat in the front seat, moving her body and waving her arms around like she was the conductor for the New York Symphony. Luckily the front seat was wide enough so she didn't run the risk of 'conducting' Rick into an accident as he drove.

"So _anyway, _ Kate, _are_ you comfortable?" He never gave up, did he?

Kate smiled as she said "Why, yes Castle, I am perfectly comfortable. There are enough pillows surrounding my leg to dam up the Hudson, and the heated seat is warming my bottom quite nicely." And as she mentioned her bottom, she thought better of it and added, "Not a word, Castle. Kid on board." Alexis mouthed 'thank you' at her.

"Why, Detective, can I just say that I'm happy that you're comfortable? And if anyone wants to note, I made absolutely no mention of your injured lower body appendage in that statement either."

"Duly noted, Castle," Kate said, giving a brief eyeroll toward Alexis, who just nodded in response. And they settled back into their seats, and Kate once again began speaking French with Alexis, just as they had several days ago on the way to the vacation house.

And, almost as predicted, approximately eight minutes later, Castle said "So, Kate...is everything feeling okay? Not hungry or anything, are you?"

Alexis looked at Kate, Kate looked at Alexis. Then Alexis muttered, "Huit," and just shook her head.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They pulled as close to Kate's building as they could, which actually wasn't terribly close. There were the normal cars that were always parked at random intervals on the street, but now there were more, and the cars that were there were almost bumper-to-bumper. And of course, because of the blizzard, the cars that were there had been plowed in, and in some cases, one could barely tell that it was actually a car under the big mound of snow lining the street. About a block down, past another cross street, Castle found a section of curb that was free, with free being a very relative term. It was free of cars, yes, but the snow that had been on the cars was still very much there, and was now laying in mounds and large chunks in the road and on the sidewalk. Luckily, Rick had his SUV with its four wheel drive, so he was able to maneuver into the spot despite all of the snow, albeit at somewhat of an awkward angle.

Martha was no longer with them; she'd asked to be dropped off earlier at a theater where she was meeting a friend, saying she would take a cab home.

He put the vehicle in park and turned back to look at Kate. "Really, Beckett, look at this! This is the closest I can get to your place. You're going to be sore and exhausted before you even get to the door, and I don't want to risk carrying you out here, not when I could slip and I could hurt you more when we'd both go down."

"Castle," she protested, "it'll be fine."

"Kate, come on, look at the street up there, the one you have to cross. The melted water and slush isn't even draining properly."

"It never does there," she acknowledged, confirming the storm drain that always seemed to be perpetually clogged or something, resulting in a huge backup of water collecting at that corner whenever there was any sort of precipitation.

"So? See? You already have to go down the street and it's all wet and it might be icy. And you have to hobble on it in _crutches,_ Kate. But before you can get to your block, you either have to go through that wading pool of icy slush at the corner, or you have to go halfway down _that other_ block to go around it. Come on, Kate," he implored, "just spend a few days at the loft. By then, you'll have been to the doctor, you can maybe put weight on your foot again. I can even take you to work."

Alexis had been observing the conversation, and she could see Kate's hesitance, although she really didn't understand it. Nor was she used to it; most women would have jumped at an invitation from her dad to stay with them. Not to mention trying to jump _him_ at the first possible chance. Then, at that thought, she inwardly cringed; her mind was rebelling and letting her think those really _wrong_ thoughts about her dad again. She inwardly gave herself a slap to get that thought out of her head. When she got her mind back on the topic at hand, she could see how, despite her dad's very convincing and valid arguments, Kate just did not want to give in, even though his proposal made a lot of sense. So she decided to try to help him-and Kate-out a bit.

"You know, Detecti-Kate, he does have a point. I mean, it still is pretty ridiculous out there. You know Manhattan...when it snows like this, there's just no place for it to go. Look at the snow right outside the car. I mean, _I_ don't even want to walk through that and I have two good feet. You've already been staying with us...what's another day or two? It's just a different address. Plus we _do_ have an underground garage, so no snooowwww..." she trailed off, extending the last point about the snow, because it was a big point, given the conditions outside.

Kate looked at Alexis, trying to be careful not to give her a scary 'Beckett-glare'. "I appreciate the offer, Alexis, but really, things will be fine. In fact they'll probably have a lot of this cleaned up by tomorrow anyway. It may be a bit tricky getting back to my apartment, but that's just for now. I'm sure everything will be fine very soon." She shrugged into her jacket, which had been off in the warm car. "So...let's do this. Castle, can you carry my bag?"

"Kate," he said, ignoring her question. "Come on. Even Alexis can see the impracticality of this, and she's not even legally old enough to vote."

"Castle," she said, giving him the steely glare that she didn't give Alexis, "either you grab my bag, or I will. But I'm getting out of the car now." And she opened the door, bracing when the cold blast of winter air came in contact with her. If she'd been looking at Rick, she would have seen him give his daughter an 'oh, brother' look, shake his head in resignation, and hop out of the car to get her bag out of the back. By the time he'd gotten the bag, she was standing on one foot outside the car, her crutches implanted in a half-foot of snow, and she was trying to figure out the best way to get through the rest of the snow that still littered the immediate vicinity. When he saw her predicament, he reached out his foot and used the inside of it to push snow away in an attempt to clear a rudimentary path for her.

When she realized what he was doing, she looked up at him gratefully, and was actually suprised, herself, that she wasn't more annoyed. "Thanks, Castle."

Kate hobbled and the other two walked slowly beside her. As predicted by Rick, they had to go quite a ways down the cross street before they could find a section of the road that wasn't covered by the backed up water so they could cross the street. It took a considerable amount of time with her on the crutches, trying to dodge the snow and make sure neither her feet nor the crutch tips landed on any ice. Her hands hurt with every step, every time she put them down on the handles and had to bear weight on them to take the place of her injured leg. She was trying to keep her face impassive and thought she was doing a good job until Castle leaned in side of her and said "How are the hands, Kate?"

"Just fine, Castle," she said through gritted teeth. Her hands hurt like hell, but she still wasn't going to admit that to him.

Finally, they made it to her building. And then she stared at the steps that led up to the door. And with it being winter, outside, and being still wet from the snow, she knew there was no way that she'd be butt-scooting. But at least she could use the railing to help pull herself toward the door, so there was some reprieve for her hands because of that, anyway. As she was making her way up the stairs, it occurred to her that she was surprised that Castle wasn't attempting to help her. And not only that, the man wasn't saying a word. He just stood silently beside her and let her make her way slowly up the steps.

Once she got to the top of the impossibly long stoop-when did there get to be so many steps there, anyway?-she let herself in and meandered down the hall toward the elevator, with Big Castle and Little Castle flanking her but still being relatively silent, except for commenting that it felt good to be inside and out of the cold. Kate was somewhat surprised that Rick wasn't being more solicitous with trying to help her, but she figured he was taking their previous discussion to heart and was trying to let her do things herself. As she hobbled down the hall, she was so intent on looking at the floor and watching where she was stepping that she was surprised when Castle said, somewhat worriedly, "Uhhh...Kate?"

"Yeah, Castle...what?" She tried to keep the verbal grimace out of her words as she leaned on her hands for another step. She felt a hand on her shoulder, gently telling her to stop. And when she looked up, she saw it: there, in front of the only elevator in her building, was a bunch of yellow tape blocking the door, along with some orange plastic construction fencing in front of it, complete with a sign that said, "Closed for Repairs".

Once she digested what she was seeing, she exclaimed, "What the _hell_?"

"Uh oh..." Rick said under his breath.

"That doesn't look good," Alexis noted.

Without a word, she turned down the hall and hobbled down to a door with a brass "10" on the outside of it. She knocked, and after a full minute, the door opened to reveal a man in his fifties, wearing a flannel shirt. A smile lit his face when he saw the detective, but then it dropped from his face just as quickly when he noticed the crutches and her bandaged foot. "My goodness, Miz Beckett, what happened to you?"

"Sprained ankle," she related concisely. When she noticed the older man's glance and the two people beside her, she said, "Mr. Peterson, this is Rick Castle and his daughter, Alexis. I was out of town with them for a few days and we just got back and saw the elevator. Rick, Alexis, Mr. Peterson, my Super. So what's going on?"

He shook his head. "It was that Lipnicki kid again," he said, with barely concealed derision. "You know, there are lots of ways to raise kids, but just lettin' 'em run wild like hooligans an' passin' it off like you're lettin' 'em be _creative_..." he said the last word with emphasis, "well, that really ain't raisin' 'em at all. It's lettin' other people raise 'em when those little hooligans make trouble for other nice people, ya know?" He looked at Rick, who nodded sympathetically toward the man.

"Mr. Peterson, what did Noah do now?"

"Miz Lipnicki, she told the kid to go play outside in the snow. But the kid didn't want to play outside in the snow. So the kid decides to do a little of both, and he plays with the snow by bringing it inside and throwing it down the elevator shaft."

Alexis' eyes widened and Castle's mouth dropped open before he said, "Whoa, I didn't see that one coming."

Kate, who was used to Noah Lipnicki's stunts, closed her eyes when she asked, "How much damage this time?"

"'This time?' You mean this kid has broken an _elevator_ before?" Rick said with something akin to awe in his voice. Kate just held up a hand to silence him so Mr. Peterson could finish talking.

"Nah, first time for the elevator," the super responded to Rick. "One time it was the hall carpeting on three, and another time it was the washing machine, and then there was that smell-"

"Mr. Peterson? How long before the elevator shaft is cleaned or...whatever?" Kate prompted.

"Cleanin' it ain't the problem. He dumped a fair amount of snow down there before Big Ted caught him red-handed." The older man gave her a giddy smile when he announced that.

"Big Ted _caught_ him?" Kate asked, astonished. "I'd like to see his mother get him out of this one."

"Who's Big Ted?" Alexis asked.

"I'll give you the story later. All of the stories. So anyway, how bad is the damage?" Kate asked, trying to get back to the point.

"Like I said, it isn't so much clean up. It's the electrical damage from the water. Kid got some solid pieces down through the opening, we think they splattered up onto some of the wiring. Shorted it out. We had the repair guys here, but none of the usual stuff fixed it. They think it might need all new wiring."

"Oh, no." Kate didn't know much about elevator repairs, but 'all new wiring' didn't sound good.

"Yeah. So it's gonna be at least a few days. But between you 'n me, if they gotta rewire the thing, it's gonna be longer than that." Then the man's eyes trailed down to her crutches, and to her bum leg, as he thought about the prospects of her negotiating three flights of stairs on crutches. "Oh, my, Miz Beckett."

The same thought was going through her head. "Yeah. You said it. Well, thank you, Mr. Peterson."

"Is there anything I can do?" the man asked.

"No, I'll just have to figure out the best way to use stairs, I guess. But tell me something...please tell me that you filed a police report for vandalism? Especially since Big Ted caught Noah this time?"

"Sure thing, you bet I did, Miz Beckett," he told her with a very satisfied smile.

"Do you remember the name of the officer you spoke with? I'd like to follow up with him or her to make sure this doesn't fall through the cracks. It's time that family stopped getting away with things like this."

"Sure, it was an Officer Carstairs, down where you work."

"Thank you, Mr. Peterson."

The older man shut the door and Kate started silently crutching her way toward the stairs. Finally, Rick could take it no more. "Kate, you heard your Super. The elevator is out of commission. You can't stay here. Come back to the loft with us," he implored, and Alexis nodded in agreement behind him.

"It's fine, Castle. I'll just have to plan for a little more time to use the stairs, that's all."

"Kate..." he protested.

"It's _fine_, Castle," she reiterated in a tense voice, and against his better judgement, he shut his mouth, not wanting to create a scene in her building, in front of his daughter.

It took them almost fifteen minutes to climb the three flights of stairs to her floor. Nobody spoke a word the entire time. Between the stairs and what had to be very sore hands from leaning on the crutches, Rick could see her getting more and more frustrated the closer they got to her apartment. Finally, she got to her door and after she unlocked it, crutched in and collapsed on her couch.

But Rick was totally unprepared when she looked up at him, and asked, "So, Castle, is that offer of the use of your spare bedroom still open?"

She knew it was the last thing he expected her to say, but after struggling to use the stairs to just _get_ to her apartment, she knew there was no way she'd be able to live here, alone, with no elevator access for the foreseeable future.

Even though it went against her grain to ask, she had to admit that the grin on Rick's face once he processed her words was just downright charming. "Of course, Detective," he agreed readily.

"Well then, I suppose I should pack some other clothes then," she acknowledged. "Castle? Are you up for a piggy back ride? It _is_ still today, and I did win the pancake bet after all." Then she threw a dirty look at her crutches, which she had discarded toward the other end of the couch. "And I _hate_ those damn crutches!" she finished with venom in her voice.

He walked over and turned around in front of her to face away from her. "I will gladly pay my bet-losing penance, Detective. So hop aboard, and let's get this show on the road." And as he walked by Alexis, he said "Pumpkin? Can you order some Chinese? I think Beckett will need a Chinese buffet and a good bottle of wine by the time we get back to the loft."

Alexis nodded and got to work on that, while Kate whispered to Rick, "But no karaoke or smelly herbs this time, buster." He laughed and reached behind him to swat her lightly on her derriere. From her previous threat, she made like she was going to bite his ear, until he started galloping and she had to grasp his shoulders just to make sure she didn't fall off.

But when she heard his "Giddy up," she rolled her eyes and thought, 'Living with the Castles...what am I getting myself into?'

* * *

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the little twist that serves all of our romantic fluff needs by getting her to stay in the loft.**_

**_Can anyone tell that I know a Noah who is a general pain to be around and is constantly getting away with things? I apologize if anyone's angel is named Noah. I do know several other very nice Noahs, but that one kid...ugh._**

_**Some of you who have read the ending a/n in 'The Plan' know that I have a 10 year old who is a big Castle fan and a Caskett shipper. 'Rise' is now on his iPod touch. So anyway, he left me a note when I got out of the shower this morning, and I had to share. It said "What if Marcus Gates from 3XK is married to Captain Victoria Gates?" OK, not likely, but I have to hand it to the kid for making the name connection. He also has an idea for an 'episode', so I told him to write up a plot synopsis and I'll write a story for it. So at some point, 'our' story may just appear on here.**_

_**Now, I implore you, if you liked the chapter, if you're one of the many people who has this fic on a story alert or me on an author alert, please leave a review. **_

_**(Plea alert following: From PMing with other authors, I know that I'm not the only one who feels that the reviews that you wonderful readers leave for us make us feel like writing more. And when we don't get many reviews, we tend to wonder where we've gone wrong. I know it's not easy to come up with something original to say, but the reviews are really the only things we have that tell us that we're on the right track and that what we write is appreciated and enjoyed. Just pick one thing and tell me what you like. And if there's something you don't like, then we want to know that too (obvious unconstructive flaming and rude comments notwithstanding). When we publish a new chapter or story, it's like sending it to a black hole. We don't know what happens to it after that...who reads it, if you like it, if you're excited to see a new chapter and drop everything to read it, or if you go 'oh, no! She wrote another chapter of that lame fic? Oh, brother!' So when you leave a review, please know that the time it takes you to type it IS very much appreciated.**_

_**I have another fic that I'm working on, and I actually have more story alerts for that fic than I have reviews, which is very surprising considering that I have 4 chapters of it up. The reviews that I get are positive and ask me to continue, and those people have said it's wonderful, but relatively speaking, there just aren't very many and it honestly makes me wonder if I should just scrap it and try something else that would appeal to a wider audience. If I'm going to spend hours writing and editing a chapter, then I want as many people as possible to enjoy it, you know? Yet people seem to keep story alerting it, so I honestly don't understand it. If you've just read 20,000 words and it's good enough that you want to read more, then please consider taking two minutes to say "Nice story. I really like how you did (XYZ)."; it helps us all become better writers. I, myself, have been bad at leaving reviews for other stories lately, but I'm really trying to change that. I don't necessarily like it when some authors hold a story hostage and say they won't post a new chapter until they get a certain number of reviews, but I'm starting to somewhat understand it, although I won't do that. We need feedback. If you like the story enough to alert it, then please, let me know what you like about it. It's motivation for me. Some people are highly internally motivated, and some people also need that external motivation, i.e., feedback. Yes, I admit, I need both to do what I feel is a decent job. So please, if you like a story, (and not just mine!), leave a review for it as a thank you to that author for writing another chapter of that story that you like, and make that author smile. And to all of you who do that already, please know that your comments are really, truly appreciated. End plea.)**_


	29. Chapter 29

_**For those who read and enjoyed the last chapter, thank you, and I'm glad! I was surprised by how many people were surprised at her giving in at the end, but I'm happy I was able to surprise you a bit (OK, I know I used the word surprise way too much there). Thank you for all of the feedback, both about the story and also about the points I mentioned in the (long) author's note. Please know that it wasn't just for me or even for this particular story; it was for all of the authors out there that people love to follow and wait for updates from. We all appreciate our readers and love to hear from you. And from comments that I've received from other authors, I know that my sentiments are shared.**_

_**About the crutches...I was on crutches once and couldn't put any weight at all on one leg for a few days. My hands hurt SO badly after about a day from bearing my full body weight every other step when I used them to move around. When I had my surgery, though, I had none of those problems because I could bear some weight on the leg. So that part is personal experience, although my husband never gave me piggy back rides. He's just not a giddy-upping type of guy.**_

_**And can I say that it's cool that I'm hearing about a bunch of people who have tried the brownies? Wonderful! And my youngest has a birthday coming up and guess what he wants for his school treat? Yup, you guessed it.**_

_**Disclaimer: standard disclaimers still apply.**_

* * *

Rick leaned over Kate's shoulder as she sat at the counter in the kitchen. Alexis had already finished and had gone to her room to call her friends, and Kate had just popped the last part of her egg roll in her mouth when Rick whispered softly in her ear, "So if we watch a movie tonight, do you think you could try to sit by me this time? Nice and close? You know, keep me warm?" His tone was all mirth and playfulness, typical Castle, and she could almost see the smirky smile on his face.

But she'd thought he'd gone into the other room, so when she felt his breath by her ear, her startle reflex almost kicked in. She swallowed quickly, and, trying to ignore the tickle that she felt from his warm breath so close to her ear, turned around and said, "Castle, I thought you learned your lesson about sneaking up behind me. You're lucky I caught myself or you just might have ended up with another bloody nose."

He took an involuntary step back when she reminded him about the nose incident. But he was silent so she continued with her answer to his question.

"I'm staying here because my place doesn't have an elevator. And believe me, I do appreciate it. Really. And if I haven't said thank you, then thank you, and I mean that sincerely. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be snuggling up with you at any given moment."

He looked genuinely perplexed. "Why not?"

She rolled her eyes. "Castle, really. We're not in the Hamptons anymore. We're in New York now, the real world. We," she waved her hand between them, "don't snuggle. Back to the real world, you know?"

"Yes," he said in a low voice with just a hint of a smile sneaking through. He took a casual step back toward her. "I do know. We _are _back in New York. And if I recall, there was a certain...decision...that was going to be made when we got back. One that went along with some rules. Rules that, as I recall, were _not_ broken." And the grin got just a bit wider.

"Uh...wha...?" Damn, with the Noah elevator fiasco, and having to temporarily move her living arrangements, the specifics of the rules and the decision had somehow slipped her mind. And if the truth be told, she supposed that all along, she was just planning to go to her apartment, think about it a bit-just to say that she had-and then file the whole weekend away as a nice memory and not bring the whole rule or 'date' thing up to Castle again. She was going to be all business, and then, of course, he wouldn't bring it up either.

Yeah, right. Fat chance. This was _Castle_ she was talking about.

What delusional planet was she living on? The man kept bringing up the rules all of the time over the last few days, and he even pulled away from her that time in the bathroom when she was practically naked, to try to adhere to those 'rules'. Quickly, she forced her mind away from that thought, because it was a totally delicious memory, and she didn't need that particular brand of deliciousness clouding her mind now.

Rules. "Yeah, Castle. We're back in the city. But I'm...uh...I'm not really home, am I?" she asked, trying to minimize the situation.

He tipped his head to the side and pursed his lips. "Kate, really. Stop stalling. This is New York. Like it or not, it's decision time."

"Decision?" she asked innocently.

"Yes, Detective. A decision. About a dinner. Date." He separated the two words out for emphasis, and boy, emphasis is what they had.

She leveled a glare on him, and he met it unflinchingly. "Really? Seriously, Castle, you want to have this discussion now?"

"Obviously." He raised his eyebrows in a smug look. "I want to have ample opportunity to start planning our dinner. Our date," he said as he grinned at her.

She sighed. "Really, Castle. It's just a dinner. We've eaten dinner together before. I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of it now."

"We have eaten together before. But I've never had a date with you before."

"Date?"

He shook his head at her slowly. "Come on, Kate. You're not hearing impaired, and you've heard me say the word 'date' several times already. And don't play stupid. You're anything _but_ stupid, and you know very well that our agreeement was for a dinner date. When you got back home. And you not being in what is technically your home has absolutely no bearing on anything."

"Oh, really? And why not? Maybe a _date_," she enunciated very clearly, "isn't in the cards." All of a sudden very confident, she raised one eyebrow at him and glared at him expectantly.

He stared at her. He obviously didn't expect that. He expected her to stutter and cave, just like she had when he'd caught her reading 'Heat Wave' in the bathroom stall at the precinct. But she'd been around him long enough where she was able to recover a little more quickly than she had then. She raised her eyebrow at him as she leaned on the counter in front of him. But he met the challenge head-on, by placing his own elbow on the counter and leaning toward her. "Oh, I believe a date is very much in the cards, Detective."

She stopped and looked at him. "Castle. Really, despite everything, I enjoyed myself this weekend, so thank you. It was a lot better than being cooped up at my apartment. But it was a weekend away...a getaway. It wasn't real life. Sometimes you do things when you're away from your normal routine, and it stays just that way...as a vacation memory. And some things are just better left as 'vacation memories'."

He looked at her incredulously and held up a hand as he trying to make sense of what she was saying. "So let me get this straight," he tried to clarify. "You made up all of these rules about rules, so we could maybe-and by 'maybe' I mean 'probably'-go on a real date when we got back here, and now you're saying that because what happened between us happened during a little getaway from work and the city, that it's somehow..._invalid_ just because of the fact that we weren't in New York?" His eyebrows crinkled and he got a perplexed look on his face. "Come on, Kate. That logic is just...I don't even know what that is. But I can tell you one thing. It's not happening."

"Good."

"Good? You're acquiescing?" That was just too easy, especially for Kate Beckett.

"Acquiescing? No. _I'm_ not. _You_ just did."

"I did not!"

"Yes you did! _You_ just agreed with _me_ that this so-called _date_ isn't happening."

"I repeat...I did not! What is _not happening _is that you are not going to pretend this didn't happen." He gave a little shake to his head as he realized that he was sounding a little bit like a tongue twister.

"Castle..."

"Kate, you are _not_ going to get all weird on me and ignore this."

"Castle..." she said again as he stepped toward her. He was invading her personal space in a decidingly intense way as he not only invaded her personal bubble with his body, but as he leaned down and placed his face right in front of hers.

"Kate, tell me in five minutes that all we have is a pleasant vacation memory." And with that, he leaned the rest of the way in toward her face and touched his lips to hers.

She'd frozen when he leaned in, and remained frozen even when she felt his lips against hers. And she tried to remain frozen, but as she felt his still-light kiss, she realized that part of her-no doubt a part that she'd tried to bury deep inside of her-had been waiting for the chance to kiss him again. She let out a little breath in defeat, and then she started to kiss him back, matching his little kisses with some of her own.

They went on like that for a bit, when she registered the feeling of his hand at her waist, lightly at first, then firmer as he began to knead her hip. And somehow, of it's own volition, her arm stole up his arm to find a place to rest on his shoulder. About that time, he pressed slightly closer and deepened the kiss a little, testing her response. But he needn't have worried, because she seemed to have forgotten any of her previous hesitation or protestations that this was just a 'vacation memory', because the memory, such that it was, seemed to be not really a memory at all, but instead a state of the current events. Events which apparently did NOT end in the Hamptons.

The light kisses slowly transformed to more intense kisses, just like what had happened a few times in the Hamptons, and finally resulted in full-out plundering of mouths, as they sat there at the kitchen counter. And one Detective Beckett, previously of the mindset of dismissing the new-found attraction between them, had apparently changed her mind and was now doing her share of the plundering. That hand of his that was on her hip didn't stay there for very long; it found its way under her shirt to caress the smooth skin of her back. His other hand had somehow found its way into her hair, lightly caressing the long strands. And her hands weren't idle either, as she, too, had let her other arm wind up around his neck, making it seem as though she was no longer terribly eager to maintain that romantic disinterest that she was trying to achieve before.

Finally, though he certainly wanted to continue, Rick slowed the kisses, finally pulling away to bury his face in the sweet smelling hair at the side of her head. He took a few heavy breaths, and it seemed from the feeling against his neck that she was doing the same. Finally, he heard her murmur next to his ear, "Rick."

Though he didn't really want to pull away, he did because of the unreadable tone of her voice. He was pretty sure he was going to hear a verbal blast for what had just happened, now that they both seemed to be recovering their collective breath, and he mentally began preparing his arguments for continuing what they started in the Hamptons.

He said an uncertain "Yeah?" into her ear before he pulled away. But when he pulled away enough to see her face, what he saw was definitely not what he expected. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, but her slightly swollen lips were curved up just a little bit into a hint of a sassy smile. When he registered the smile on her face, he asked hestiantly, "So I take it that you might have found that to be more than a pleasant vacation memory?"

He hadn't really recovered yet from the shock of seeing that look on her face when she shocked him even more by replying, "You're really bad at telling time, Castle. I don't think those five minutes are up yet." And then she leaned forward and once more sealed that sassy mouth of hers to the surprised one of his.

The kiss didn't go on nearly as long this time, but they were both still slightly breathless when they pulled away from each other. He needed some space from her and a break from what they'd been doing, but didn't want to give her up entirely yet, as long as she didn't seem upset by the turn of events. He reached his other arm around her back until both of them were encircling her, and he leaned his forehead against hers as he took a deep breath. "So..." he prompted.

"So," she parrotted.

"This..." he tried again.

"Yeah?" She obviously wasn't going to make this easy on him.

He pulled back and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, and then pulled her slightly closer to him as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Kate..."

"Rick."

Although he still felt a slight thrill at the ease with which his first name was starting to roll off her tongue, he finally responded, "I know we're not great at communication, you and me, but these single word conversations aren't really going to do us a lot of good in the long run."

She situated her arms around his shoulders a little differently then, casually. Rick didn't mind-anything was fine with him as long as she didn't pull away. "Probably right about that."

"Four words," he remarked. "Thats an improvement." He paused, and then just decided to go for broke when he said softly, "Kate, like it or not, we _are_ involved. Already. That ship sailed sometime within the last several days. Sharing a meal and calling it a date is not going to change that fact in the least. You, uh, do realize that, right?"

He felt a little sigh against his neck, before he heard her soft whisper of "Yeah, much as I hate to admit it, I started to figure that out sometime around minute three."

"Minute three?"

"Yeah. Minute three of that kiss."

She could hear the grin in his words. "I knew I could make you see reason with that kiss. It's good to see I haven't lost my touch."

Inwardly rolling her eyes, she took one of her hands from where it rested behind his shoulders and raised it, lightly thumping him on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

She pulled back to look at him, a bemused look on her face. "That was for you acting all smug. And I hardly even touched you. Don't be a baby, Castle."

The head thump forgotten, he grinned down at her, all of a sudden struck by the fact that she was in his arms, she was kind of smiling, and she hadn't shot him yet. Even though they'd slept in the same bed-several times, even-every once in a while, it still hit him that their relationship had progressed to a newer, more intimate level. And when that fact did hit him, at random times, he just felt like grinning. And fist-pumping. And feeding the birds. And maybe even doing a little happy dance.

"So I thump you on your head and you start grinning at me like a loon?" she asked, puzzled.

He shook his head a bit. "No, Detective, not at all. No looniness here. I'm just really happy that you're with me, here like this." And he bent forward and placed a very light and quick kiss on her lips. "Very happy," he smiled. "So what kind of a dinner do you want for our date? Anywhere special that you want to go? How-" his question was cut off by the ring of Kate's cell.

She pulled away from him and sat back in the chair, grabbing for her phone that she'd laid on the counter. "Oh, it's the Captain. I called him before and left a message for him to call me. Heads up about the foot," she told Rick quickly as she pressed the button to answer the call. "Hello?"

Rick moved away from her and attempted to straighten up the kitchen a bit while she explained her injury and her predicament to the Captain. Pretty soon, she clicked the call off and sat the phone down. "He told me to take tomorrow off and get myself to a doctor to get checked out. Hopefully I'll be able to get in somewhere..." she thought out loud.

"Don't worry about that. I'll make a few calls," Rick said ominously.

"Oh, no. What are you planning? Castle, it's bad enough that I have to go to a doctor at all. I am absolutely NOT going to some witchdoctor or one of your new-age-chanty-earth-mother types that you might have dated in the past while doing book research.

"Not a problem, Detective. I have the names of several highly respected surgeons programmed into my phone. Nothing New Age, and no chanting. Nobody I dated. I promise. We'll find the best fit of doctor for your injury and I'm sure that one of my guys can get you in early tomorrow." He sat back down in the chair next to her.

"You have a guy everywhere, don't you?"

"Of course. And rest assured that any one of them will be happy to help you out and get you back to your full ass-kicking tendencies as soon as possible.

"Well...uh...thanks, Castle." She looked down at her hands laying the counter.

Rick could tell that they'd reached another somewhat uncomfortable time. They were still getting used to each other, and he knew those things would probably happen. Because they certainly couldn't sit around and make out all day, much as he might like that idea.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong? And don't bother saying that it's nothing, because if it was nothing, then you wouldn't have the cute little furrow between your brows," he remarked with a charming grin.

She looked up at him and struggled to make her face go lax, to get rid of the apparent furrow that he seemed to amuse him. "This is still just...weird. Me, staying here with you. Us...you know..."

"Kissing? Getting hot and heavy?" he asked her with another grin.

And just like that, some of the tension evaporated at his blunt statement. And immediately, her mind went into 'play-with-Castle's-mind' mode. She bit her bottom lip as she gave him a slight but very sultry smile. "Oh, Castle, if you think _that_ was my hot and heavy, well..." she trailed off, letting the implication stand on its own. She knew his imagination could fill in the rest of her statement, and from the slight widening of his eyes and the way the smile had dropped off his face as soon as the implication hit, it looked like his imagination was running wild right about now.

She rolled her eyes. "Such an easy mark," she said almost to herself. He was still trying to recover from her comment, so she just continued with their previous conversation, minus the innuendo. "Yes, Castle. All of this. It just still feels strange to me. But I suppose I can't really deny you that dinner, after all you've done for me, so yeah. Make some reservations. Surprise me."

"_After all I've done for you_? I finally get you to agree to this date, after all that's happened between us in the last few days-which I think has been pretty spectacular, by the way-and then I find out that _that's _why you're going along with it? Just because of gratitude?" She was a little stunned by the look of hurt-hurt?-that passed over his face when he registered her words. Hurt and frustration, as he looked back down at the floor.

Crap. She didn't mean it like that. She really didn't. But after it came out of her mouth, she could see how he would think that. "No, Rick..." She lifted a hand like she was going to touch him, to reassure him, and then she realized that she didn't know what to do with it. They'd kissed, sure, they'd even made out in a bed, but after such a long time of _not_ having physical contact with the man, she just was out of her element on giving the spontaneous comforting gesture, the more-than-friends contact. He was the one that was good at that, not her. Should she touch his face, get him to look at her again? His shoulder?

Finally, she just opted to touch his hand that was resting on his leg, grasping it like he had grasped hers after the Triple Killer had gotten away. And after she did it, she realized that it didn't feel so foreign after all, and that gave her the push that she needed to continue speaking. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean it that way. Well, not only that way. Sure, I'm grateful to you. Who wouldn't be?" The somewhat sad look on his face didn't go away, but at least he did look up at her as she continued speaking.

"But I...you know, Castle, you really stepped up. I told you I needed to do things on my own, and for the most part, you let me, even though I know that it was just eating at you to not help me. Like getting to my apartment. You just stood by and you didn't say a word. And I know now it was stupid, because my hands are totally killing me!" She punctuated that statement with a bit of a concilatory smile before continuing. "But I had to try to do it by myself, and you understood that, even though I know you didn't like it. I appreciate that, really. So I know that this is more than just a casual dinner date between friends. I wanted to be sure. And I'm still not sure, but I don't know if there's a way that we can really _not_ do the date, after everything that's happened. Because really, if you think about it, the next meal we have together could be a 'date' meal, no matter where we are. Because that's where we are now with...things." She really meant to say their relationship, but she couldn't form those words yet in relation to them. Not quite yet. "And the date thing, it's not just for you...it's for me too. And being back in the city, being here," she gestured toward the loft with her free hand, "it just hits me more here, you know? That something has changed between us. And that's a little scary, with how long I've known you and everything."

Her fumbling explanation must have been somewhat okay because she noticed the look on his face was evening out; he didn't look so tense or...quite so hurt anymore. He put his other hand over their clasped hands, and told her, "Thank you for being honest with me." His gaze was so intense when he was sincere like that...it was all she could do to hold it and not look away before he continued. "If the truth be told, it's kind of strange for me too. But it's a good kind of strange, and that's why I was smiling before, right before you thumped me on my head. So anyway...uh...can I get back to you about the date? I'd like to see what the doctor says about your ankle so I can plan around it. I mean, we should probably plan for something with not a lot of walking required, and probably nothing that would require a slinky dress. Much as I would _love_ to see you in a slinky dress, I'm sure you wouldn't feel comfortable wearing one until you can wear heels again and your ankle isn't the size of a grapefruit."

Once again, Kate was taken aback by his statements, all spoken so matter-of-factly. Once again, he surprised her. Here he was, after being given the green light for this 'date' that he'd been asking about for days, and he was forgoing rushing to the phone and making reservations somewhere because he wanted to accommodate her as much as possible because of that damn ankle. She shook her head slightly as she could feel herself getting just a little bit sappy at his obvious consideration. She saw his eyes cloud over as he noticed her shaking her head, and he looked like he was about to say something. But she went with instinct and even despite her hesitation before over how to touch him, she had none of that hesitation now as she covered his lips with the index finger of her free hand. "Yeah, Rick," she told him softly, "you can get back to me on that date. And thank you...that's really sweet." And she leaned forward and replaced her finger with her lips as she gave him a light kiss.

She pulled back, and then just sat and stared at each other goofily. And she thought that maybe these spontaneous gestures might not be so difficult after all.

"Movie?" he asked.

She thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Sure."

He started to get up, but then he looked at her sideways. "Snuggle a little bit?" he suggested.

She smiled, thinking back to his question that had started this entire conversation. "Sure. A _little bit_. But clothes stay on, got it?" she added with a shake of a finger in his direction.

"Detective! My _daughter_ is in the house!" he said in mock outrage. "Of course clothes stay on. That _is_ one of the rules, right?" he asked cheekily.

"Just making sure, Writer Man."

He started to go, but then stopped again. "Kate?" he asked.

"What, Castle?"

"I'm okay with waiting for the date until we hear about your leg. Really. But...even if we haven't officially had our first date yet, can I still think of us-in my own mind, that is-as _dating_?" His voice deepened as he said the last word, giving it emphasis, but still belying just a hint of insecurity as to how she might answer the question.

She started to think about it, but then she realized that she had already jumped off the cliff. She wasn't sure if was during this conversation, or if it was sometime during the last few days, but she'd already jumped, and she couldn't go back now. She looked him right in the eye and put him out of his misery. "Even though it still sounds strange, I guess that's okay, Castle."

He gazed back at her intently, seemingly trying to digest her words, and she could see the point when they fully sunk in: his eyes got sparkley and a large grin threatened to overtake his face. "This is just so cool!" he squeaked, giving her a loud smacky kiss on her lips before he bounded off to the living room to get a movie ready.

Yes, she thought, living with the Castles, and now _dating_-wow, that still sounded strange-Rick was certainly going to make things interesting now.

* * *

_**Hey, folks. We're winding down now. I have an idea/plan for another chapter or maybe two for this story, but it could also pretty easily end here. What do you think...is this a good ending spot? And then, how do you all feel about a sequel? It would pick up where this leaves off; this story was the beginning of the relationship (actually realizing that there was one) and the sequel would be them getting used to the relationship and building it into something. **_

_**This chapter went in a little different direction than I'd originally intended, but sometimes they do that. I hope her initial dismissal and then her honesty toward the end weren't too OOC. When pressed, she couldn't actually run away, so she tried to figuratively, at least at first. When writing it, I viewed it more as resignation, as coming to terms with it, kind of like when she realized she couldn't stay at her place with no elevator and limited mobility. **_

_**I was honestly going to address some Noah escapades in this chapter, but then I got sucked up into all of the Casketty stuff so I left him out because I didn't want to spoil the mood. But if anyone wants to hear about (fictional) Noah antics, just let me know.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed it. Take care, everyone, and thanks for reading!**_


	30. Chapter 30

_**Sorry this has taken me so long. I had to take a bit longer to plot how I wanted the end of this story to go, as well as what I want to do in the sequel. And then...there was the writer's block to contend with. Or maybe I should call it idea block. But whatever. So, anyway, yes, there will be a sequel. I'm not entirely positive what the name of it will be yet, but it will be named something that 'goes' with this story. You'll know it when you see it. **_

_**Then as I was writing this and had a good idea of what to do, I had an inspiration and the chapter kind of clicked into place for me. And I almost don't want to say it, but it involves a song. So before you go further, look up Lady Antebellum's 'Just a Kiss'. Personally, I think this is about the best potential Caskett song there could possibly be. The lyrics are seriously great! (And their other songs aren't so bad either. For some reason, they just seem to have songs that are so applicable to our favorite couple.) So anyway, partway through the story, I'll have a bit of a different type of section break (x-x-x-x-x-x) than I normally use. That's your cue to listen to the song before you read the rest of the chapter, if you want to, because I tie it to the song. I'm not going to post lyrics, because this is getting long enough. But just do it...listen to the song. Then read the rest of the story. You'll get it. At least I hope you do.**_

_**Disclaimers: Yeah, the same old stuff. Don't own anyone, have no rights to anyone mentioned in this chapter. If I did, I probably wouldn't be sitting where I am right now.**_

* * *

_Previously: Kate tried to blow off their new-found closeness as a vacation fling, but Castle wouldn't let her. So she agreed to a date with him, and then put her foot in her mouth because she said it was because she owed him because he was doing a lot for her. He was kind of hurt by that, so she explained herself more, and through her fumbling explanation, she admitted that she wasn't sure about the date with him because it all felt weird, but she also realized that they'd reached a point in their relationship where the date was the next logical step. And she also agreed that it was okay if Castle thought about them-in his own mind-as 'dating', and she said that was okay even though it still sounded, and felt, really strange to her. And they agreed to watch a movie and snuggle a bit..._

They did watch that movie, and they did snuggle a little bit that first night back at the loft. But Castle, mindful of the big hurdle he had overcome in just getting Kate to agree to the date-and even moreso that she didn't freak out when he mentioned the somewhat more permanent-sounding dat_ing_-didn't try to push the envelope in terms of PDAs, even though they weren't technically anywhere public. He knew that she was in a strange environment, and was worried about how things might appear in front of his daughter or mother, faced with a new experience, so the whole thing probably felt _very_ public to her. He knew she was out of her comfort zone, in more ways than one. He just wanted her to feel comfortable with him on this new level, and he knew if he pushed things too much, she'd shut down. Alone together in the Hamptons was one thing, but he knew that preserving the closeness they had gained there in this normal environment of their real lives was going to be conflicting for her.

So they sat on the plush couch with her ankle propped up, once again adorned with a bag of ice. Even though the sprain had happened a few days prior, there was still swelling so they figured it couldn't hurt. And with a twinkle in his eye, Rick had offered to go outside to a snowbank to get her a bag of snow, "for old times sake", but Kate just rolled her eyes and told him that the crushed ice from his ice maker would be fine. So the ice was on Kate's leg, which was propped on the low table in front of her. He'd sat down after her, and he sat down next to her, but yet at a respectable distance. Relatively speaking, he was so far away that he wouldn't have been able to even do the old teenage 'yawn and stretch' move. She had to respect that he he was giving her space, but at the same time, she flashed back to the memory of them sitting in front of the fire the night of the blizzard. They were cuddling on the couch then (and making out a little), and she was giving him grief, and he was obsessing about what his daughter was doing at her sleepover, and they were engaging in innuendo skirmishes. Except for the cuddling (and the making out), it had been pure, vintage 'them'.

And now, sitting next to him stiffly, she kind of missed that.

But right now, she wasn't going to do anything about that, mostly because she didn't really know exactly what_ to _do about it. Even though she'd agreed to go on a date with him, she was still at a loss for how to make the transition. And now she was _living_ with the man! Didn't a person usually date someone for a while _before_ living with that someone? What was the protocol in a situation like this?

Interrupting her ruminations was the feeling of fingers lightly tracing designs on the back of the hand that was laying closest to Castle. When she felt that, she almost felt...nervous? No, how could that be? She'd kissed the guy already, even slept in the same bed as him. Why should she be nervous when he was just rubbing her hand? Because it was _here,_ she thought, in familiar surroundings-familiar_ Castle_ surroundings-and that certain word had been spoken out loud. Dating. And even though she'd told Castle that they were already there in terms of the dating aspect, somehow it just felt _different_ now. It had been spoken aloud, and acknowledged in a positive, 'go-forth-and-date' sense. And that just made it different somehow. And it made her nervous, like it all of a sudden meant more now. Although, she had to admit that even that light touch from him on her hand still felt damn good.

She didn't look at their two hands, but kept her gaze intently on the movie. After a few minutes of that, she slowly turned her hand over and she lightly entwined their fingers. When she did that, she felt the small little squeeze of his own fingers before they relaxed with hers. And their hands stayed together from that point on. She almost laughed when a surprising part of the movie came on, and he squeezed her hand with a little squeak as he inhaled sharply. Then he realized what he did, and the look on his face was comical as he found her smirking at him. But their hands stayed together.

But midway through the movie, he let go of her hand abruptly. She glanced over at him as he started to shift his position on the couch, and he somewhat apologetically explained, "My butt's getting sore from sitting in the same position." Then he got up and started slapping himself on the rear. "And it's kind of going to sleep." He hit himself a few more times and then sat down again, once again trying to shift into a different position. She watched the whole spectacle with a strange kind of curiosity. He seemed really fidgety tonight, moreso than what she remembered from when they'd watched Stuart Little with Alexis.

As it appeared that he was finally finished shifting around, she told him blandly, "We can't have that, can we? Let me know if you want me to move."

He'd been turning toward her more, and he had one leg bent up on the couch now, with the arm that was next to her now resting on the back of the couch. But still, he made no move to put that arm around her, or to even move closer to her. And she had fully expected him to do that. Then she found herself in the unenviable position of being relieved that he wasn't trying to invade her personal space when his daughter could come downstairs at any moment, yet at the same time being a little miffed that he wasn't trying to get closer to her, esepcially after his apparent glee about the whole 'dating' thing. And to top it all off, she found that she was also a little bit disappointed that he'd severed even their very minimal contact when he'd taken his hand away to change positions.

How conflicting. And how annoying.

After he'd resettled himself, she unknowingly dropped her attention from the movie, because she was too busy being annoyed with herself for being disappointed with the loss of contact when that's what she was telling herself she wanted anyway. And she didn't like being annoyed with herself.

"What's wrong? Don't you like the movie anymore? Or is your ankle hurting?" Castle's voice interrupted her thoughts again, and she looked over to find him watching her. "Your brow was crinkled and you had your lips kind of pursed together, and you were kind of staring off into space or something," he explained. "It didn't look like you were enjoying the movie anymore."

"It's fine. And what were you doing watching _me_ anyway? Why weren't _you _watching the movie?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at him, turning the tables on him by firing the questions right back at him.

He gave her a look, followed by a sigh. Then he said, "Well, if you must know, _I_ was watching you instead of the movie because you distracted me."

She gave him an 'oh, brother' type of look and asked, "Me? I wasn't _doing _anything. I haven't even moved. You're the one who's jumping all over the place trying to wake up his butt. As if I haven't heard enough problems about your butt this weekend. But anyway, after that, how could I possibly distract _you_?" She looked perplexed by his statement.

He sighed. "You, Detective, are always highly distracting. In a good way. You don't have to actually do anything. You're just...here. And I'm extremely glad that you are, but the fact remains that you just being here has a certain wonderful element of distractability associated with it."

She stared at him, trying to figure out the amusement that she could see was making his eyes twinkle and causing the corners of his mouth to turn up in the very beginnings of a smile, not to mention trying to figure out what the statement itself meant. "Oh...okaaaay." Her response was the epitome of generic, but she honestly couldn't think of what else to say.

"And," he continued, his voice lower now, as if he were sharing a secret, "if the truth be told, I was actually trying to figure out how I could get away with holding your hand again." He saw her eyes widen almost imperceptibly at his admission, and he could see her bland expression almost change before she let the mask slip back into place. "I didn't really want to let go of it before, but I..." he trailed off.

"You needed it so you could spank yourself, Ricky?" she threw back at him in a husky voice, which was _so_ not what he was expecting.

After he let that comment sink in, his mouth formed a roguish grin. "I'd be happy to let _you_ spank me," he replied after several seconds, causing her to raise one of her eyebrows at him.

"I'm sure you would. And as I recall, you made the same statement right after I met you."

"I did?" he asked automatically. Then he thought back, and he confirmed his own question with a smile and a nod. "Yes, I did!" But after that, his smile grew larger as he said, "But the more pertinent fact, Detective, is that _you_ still remember that statement."

"How could I forget?" she asked dryly. "It's not every day that I get propositioned by a minor celebrity during a homicide interrogation."

His eyebrows raised. "Ahem. Minor? Did you just call me a _minor_ celebrity?" he asked her in an affronted tone.

She looked him squarely in the eye. "Yes. I did." She reached her hand out and patted his cheek in a conciliatory gesture. "I'd hate to break it to you, Rick, but you're no Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp."

His hand reached out and grasped her wrist, not letting the hand escape away from his face. "Maybe not, but that's probably a good thing for you." After he finished talking, he moved his hand away from her wrist to grasp her hand that had been on his face. After bringing it to his lips for a light kiss, he lowered their joined hands down to rest on his leg.

She wasn't prepared for the sudden intimate gesture. She could still feel the lingering impression of his lips on her hand, and she asked softly, "How so?", while trying to maintain some semblance of detatchment.

"If I was one of those guys, then I probably wouldn't be here with you now. And I wouldn't be able to follow you around. And then you'd miss me."

She narrowed her eyes and smiled a knowing smile at him. "So I'd miss you?" she confirmed.

"Yes. Yes you would," he answered confidently. "Not to mention that your case closure rate would probably go down."

Pure Castle, that's what this conversation was. Good-natured, cocky confidence, with a side of humor thrown in as they jumped from topic to topic. And she could give it right back to him, with her own brand of cocky confidence, no matter how strange this situation was.

"I will have you know, Mr. Castle, that I solved many crimes before you came along, and my closure rate was pretty impressive."

"Oh, I don't doubt that, Detective," he told her, leaning closer. "But it's even more impressive now. And do you know what else is really, really _good_ with me around?" he asked in that low, mesmerizing voice of his.

Staring into his blue eyes, with him leaning close with that seductive look on his face, she could only think in her mind, 'so many things'. But never, ever would she give him the satisfaction of admitting that. The man would be insufferable if she ever told him that. But before she could formulate any response, he told her his answer.

"Your coffee."

And then without waiting for a response from her, he squeezed her hand that he still held on his leg before releasing it. He missed her eye roll when he shifted yet again and moved a little closer to her. "So you said before that we could snuggle a bit. Ready yet?" he asked, lifting an arm up as an invitation for her to lean against him. "I mean, I could just keep trying to hold your hand like a teenager on his first date, but it's just not as satisfying as a real snuggle, and I think we're past that anyway."

"What about your butt?" she asked, remembering the cause of his fidgetiness earlier.

With another sly grin, he answered, "Well, Detective, you're welcome to find out anything that you want to about my posterior region, either by looking or feeling-"

"Castle...daughter..." she warned.

"Yes, well, as I said you're welcome to do your own research if you want, but I can assure you that should you snuggle with me, I'll be quite content to stay put. Very content," he said, then in a lower voice added, "Just like all of the other times that we've been in those types of positions. And I can assure you, no rules will be broken. So what do you say? I'm getting kind of tired of holding my arm up like this."

Shaking her head, she did indeed settle down against him with her head against his shoulder. He draped his arm over her shoulder and wasted no time in winding it around to her other shoulder, effectively hugging her against him. As they settled in together, he took his arm that was encircling her and rubbed his fingertips lightly up and down her opposite arm. "Much better," he commented absently.

"Mmm..." she murmured back, relaxing into him.

And as luck would have it, it was mere moments later that Alexis came down the stairs and into the room. He could feel Kate stiffen as she noticed her, but he held her in place with the arm that he had around her. They weren't doing anything inappropriate, and while it might be slightly out of the ordinary now, it would soon (if he had anything to say about it) be very ordinary. So they might as well get one of the potentially uncomfortable moments out of the way now.

"Hey, you guys," Alexis greeted as she plopped down in one of the chairs. "God, I needed a break. What are you watching?"

Kate looked over at the girl, who didn't seem the least bit fazed to see her cuddling with Rick. But then again, she remembered, the girl thought they were dating. But then she froze, because she realized that yes, they _were_ indeed dating. And she, herself, had admitted that and had agreed to it. Yet they hadn't even had a real date yet. Man, this whole thing was messed up.

Rick had named the movie for his daughter while Kate was contemplating her situation, and Kate was still aware of enough of the conversation to give Rick a little verbal jab. "We were watching it, Alexis, but then your dad had to try to extoll his virtues and tell me how amazing he is. So we lost track of the movie for a while when I had to try to let him down gently that he wasn't in the league of Brad Pitt."

"Yeah, that does get to be a problem from time to time. I mean, he's pretty cool, as far as dads go, _most_ of the time anyway, but you're right, he's no Brad Pitt," Alexis replied dryly. "Hey! Do you want some popcorn? I was thinking about just making a microwave bag to take up to my room, and I can make you guys one too."

"That sounds good, pumpkin, but why don't you join us instead? Take a break for a while?" Rick suggested.

"Thanks, Dad. But I'm trying to work ahead a little bit and I'm making some good progress, so I don't want to stop now." And she hopped up to go into the kitchen.

Somehow, the movie was still playing, as it had been throughout their entire discussion. And he realized that he had no idea what was going on anymore, and he suspected that Kate wouldn't fare much better in describing the plot or the current action sequence. He reached over to the remote and hit the pause button.

"Why did you stop the movie?" Kate asked.

"Can you honestly tell me that you have any idea of what's going on?"

"Well, _no_, but won't it look strange when Alexis comes back with popcorn and we're sitting here staring at a frozen screen? Castle, this..." she made a wild gesture to the two of them, "is weird enough. So can we just let the movie run so your kid thinks we're at least somewhat normal?"

"She already knows I'm not normal," he said matter-of-factly.

"Castle..." she warned.

"Fine," he said and pressed the button on the remote to resume the movie. They both watched, and though Kate enjoyed the feeling of leaning against him, she was still on edge because she knew that Alexis was going to come back soon and she was still feeling strange about the PDAs in front of the girl, even though Alexis had already seen them doing more than sitting on a couch together.

His fingers had resumed rubbing her arm absently, and they didn't stop even when Alexis brought back the popcorn and other items on a tray. "I got you guys a couple of sodas out of the fridge. Hope they're okay...Kate, I wasn't really sure what kind you drink."

She was touched by the girl's thoughtfulness, and she told her so. "Thanks, Alexis. That was sweet of you. And your choice was just perfect. Are you sure you don't want to stay down here and watch the movie with us? Sometimes a little break works wonders at relaxing your mind. Then everything just sinks in a little better after that." Kate was definitely more on edge with Alexis around, at least when she was sitting like this with the girl's father, but she certainly didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable in her own house.

"No, but thanks anyway. This has been enough of a break for me. But does it work like that for you too? You know, with your cases? I mean, do you know how many times I've been talking to dad over the years, and he stops right in the middle of something, and then he gets a gleam in his eye like he's figured something out, and then he's just outta here like he's Batman running to the batpole?"

Castle pointed at his daughter as he gave her a wink. "Ooo, Batman, I _like_ it," he told her.

Kate ignored him. "Well, sometimes it does. I've always been taught to sift through the evidence and plot out the clues. But, yeah, sometimes inspiration does strike when you let your mind relax a little bit. It's just a good idea to have a balance between the two."

Alexis looked thoughtful, and then nodded. "Well, here's the popcorn. Dad, no trying to throw it up and catch it in your mouth, okay?" She turned to Kate. "The last time he did that, I was finding popcorn under the couch and down in the cushions. But I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night."

After the girl left for her room, Rick could feel some of the tension drain out of Kate's body. The relaxation that he felt was palpable. "Better?" he asked.

She shifted to turn to look at him. And when she did, she found that their faces were impossibly close. "What...do you mean?" she asked, trying not to look at his lips.

"With no audience. I could feel you relax as soon as Alexis went back to her room."

"I..." She didn't know what to say. She was, of course, more comfortable when it was just the two of them, not because of anything Alexis had said or done, but just because of her own need to get used to her new normal. Their new normal. Dating. Oh, my.

"I mean," he continued, "I've never thought of my daughter as being all that scary, where just her mere presence would be cause for high levels of tension and worry." His words had a certain amount of jest in the tone, but she took it a step further.

"No," she protested, "there's nothing wrong with her. I'm just...God, was I that obvious? Do you think she noticed something? I'm sorry. I..."

"Kate, come on, I'm joking. And you were fine; I'm sure she didn't notice anything. I just happened to be holding you and I could feel the tension practically leaking out of you when she left."

"Well, that sounds...icky."

"If you think hearing it is icky, then you should just feel how tense you were when Alexis was in the room." His gaze flitted down to her lips and then back to her eyes. "But I know how we could maybe relax you a bit more now..."

She knew where he was going. And damn, she was playing right along with him, almost feeling like she had butterflies in her stomach at the prospect of him kissing her. What was she, fourteen?

He leaned in and touched his lips to hers, and when he did, she brought her hand up to his face to touch it like she had been earlier. He nipped her bottom lip, and she changed the kiss and suckled at his lips. Her hand on his face caressed the stubble of his jaw, and she found a certain sexiness in feeling it. One set of lips worked over the other set, one tongue teased the other. And eventually, Kate dropped her head back to his shoulder while heaving a big unsteady breath, which matched.

"I think I'm relaxed now."

And he just laughed and pulled her closer as they settled in to try to watch the movie and eat the popcorn that Alexis had given them.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The next battle came when, in a repeat of the first night of the blizzard, Rick helped her into his room and informed her that she'd be staying there instead of in the guest room. "Castle, are you high or something? Look outside...there's no blizzard now. I do _not_ have to use your bedroom."

"Kate, mine is the only bedroom on the first floor. You came here in the first place because you can't handle a lot of stairs with your ankle like that, so it would be pretty rude of me to make you climb stairs just to get to the guest bedroom when there's a perfectly good bedroom on the first floor."

"But it's _yours_, Castle."

"Obviously. That's why all of my clothes are hanging in the closet. Oh," he said, snapping his fingers, "Let me go make some room in my closet for your clothes." And he moved quickly over to his closet, obviously on a mission, as she was left standing there, staring after him, wondering what the hell had just happened. He'd just made it sound like she was moving in with him! But, she realized with a jolt, she _was_ moving in with him. Just not...like _that_. It was temporary. Yet he was, at this moment, across the room and clearing space in his own closet for her clothes.

"Castle!" she all but shouted at him.

"What?" he asked as he poked his head out of the closet. Then he continued right away, not really waiting for her response. "Hey, do you have a preference for what side of the closet you like? Some people are particular like that. You know they always have to have the right side, or the left si-"

"Castle," she shouted again. "Will you shut _up_ for a minute?"

"What?" he asked again, this time somewhat bewildered at her outburst.

She hopped over to the nearest chair and sat down. After running her hands through her hair, she told him, "I'm staying with you for a while because I can't handle all of the stairs yet at my place. That does _not_ mean that I am _living_ with you. I am not living with you, Castle. Therefore I do not need room in your closet."

"But...don't you want to hang your clothes up? So you won't have to iron them? You know, suitcase wrinkles?"

"Uh..." Wrinkles? He made it sound so simple.

"Beckett, it's not like I'm clearing out half of my closet and commissioning the construction of custom storage units so you can have room for your high heels, like you're the new lady of the manor. But we know you'll probably be here for several days, at least, so it just makes sense that you have a _small_ area to hang up your clothes in my closet so you don't have to live out of your suitcase. Right?"

He made it sound so innocent, so practical. Eliminating wrinkled clothes. Sheesh.

"Okay, Castle. You win. But clear space in the closet in the _guest_ bedroom, Castle, not in your closet.

"No can do, Kemosabe."

"Castle..." she started, ignoring the Lone Ranger reference for now.

He held up a hand. "Kate, hear me out. You're staying in here. It's been decided. Don't worry, I'll stay in the guest room."

"I am not kicking you out of your own bedroom to stay in your guest room."

"No, you're not," he agreed, although she knew it way too fast for him to acquiesce. He rarely agreed to anything that quickly.

"Good. Then it's settled. Now, do you think you could grab my suitcase and put it in the guest room?"

"No can do, Kemosabe," he said again.

"Castle, come on. We need to get some sleep, and I'd like to get settled in. So, Tonto, can you just help me out here, please? Go get my suitcase and put it where it needs to go? Huh? You know, Hi-yo Silver, Away?" Inwardly, she was surprised at the little flashes of Lone Ranger-isms that popped back into her head.

"Kate, take a look." He raised an eyebrow and nudged his head to the side. She followed his eyes and saw her bag already sitting on a chair.

"What's it doing in here?"

"You're staying in here."

"I am not, Castle! We already covered this. I am _not_ kicking you out of your room!"

"Yes, I know we covered it. _You_ are not kicking me out. _I_ am."

"Castle..." she said in a warning tone.

"Hey, what happened to 'Rick'?" At her glare, he said, "What? Not now? Well, fine then. But please know that at least until you can bear some weight on your bad leg, you're using my room. I'll use my guest room. And if you don't want to use my room, well, then...I suppose you _could_ join me in the guest room," he told her, waggling his eyebrows. "But then, well, Alexis may see us. She's on the same floor, you know."

She looked at him, not saying anything but pursing her lips and shaking her head as she continued to glare at him. She was resigning herself to the fact that she wasn't going to win this, and she certainly wasn't in a position to duke it out with him. So finally, she rolled her eyes and got up to hop over to where her suitcase was sitting. Opening it, she took out a few shirts and one or two other things that might wrinkle. She threw them at Castle, saying "Can you hang these up? I need to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed. See you in the morning."

And without another word or glance at him, she grabbed a small bag out of her suitcase, as well as some sleep clothes and made her way into his bathroom. Shutting the door with more force than what was probably necessary, she felt a little bit petty but it was still somewhat satisfying after dealing with his stubbornness. The nerve of that man! Shouldn't she be the one to decide where she's going to sleep? Even if it was upstairs and stairs are difficult for her.

She found some towels and washed her face, and then sat down on a little stool in the opulent bathroom and began to change into the pajamas she'd brought with her. She didn't hurry; she used the time to think of the past several days in the company of the Castle clan, and then of what the next several days (or longer?) might hold for them.

Snowblowers.

French lessons (aka: snowy kisses with cold noses and wet bottoms).

Cookie dough fights in the kitchen.

Warm breakfasts with good company.

Chairs in bathrooms.

Piggy-back rides.

Napping and snuggling.

Being taken care of.

Pillow fights.

Subtext-filled conversations with a wise, dramatic redhead.

Hot kisses interrupted by embarrassed teenagers.

Movies.

_Dating_.

Dating?

Movies?

More kisses? (Yeah, she hoped so.)

Breakfasts?

Shared cab rides to the precinct?

Being taken care of?

Snuggling? And, oh, man..._more_ than just snuggling?

Staring into those blue eyes and just letting herself get lost in them.

And as she thought, and remembered everything, and thought about what could come, she felt some of her anger and frustration begin to wane. It was just a bed for a night or two, after all. And she hated to admit it but she did have a point about the stairs. He'd probably have his phone with him; she'd text him when she was settled into his bed-ugh, 'his bed', that sounded so...tawdry-and she'd apologize for being stubborn when he was just trying to be practical and generous. After she brushed her teeth and done everything else she needed to do to get ready for bed, she put her hand on the doorknob, all set to open it. But then she paused.

She was about to spend the night in Richard Castle's bed. His _real_ bed. And he wasn't even there. She shook her head as if to clear it. Yeah. Strange. But on some level, after the past few days, she knew she had enough to get used to without adding another element-sex-into the mix quite yet...no matter how much she might have been tempted a few times.

Now, she just had to try to shut her mind off from thinking about the changes in her life that had taken place over the last few days so she could actually get some sleep. She shut the light off in the bathroom and turned the knob to open the door, taking care to do it softly as sort of an apology to the universe for the way she almost slammed the door when she went into the bathroom.

But she wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited her when she hopped back into the bedroom. Her jaw dropped a little bit, but then she smiled, because bestselling author Richard Castle had apparently sat down on his bed to wait for her, and it appeared he had very promptly fallen asleep. And now he was reclining against the headboard, snoring lightly, with his arms clasped over his stomach.

Oh, hell, what did she do now?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

So much for sleeping. She laid there an hour later, on her side, just looking at him sleep next to her. He'd slid down from where he was leaning against the headboard, so now he was laying on the pillows in a more normal position. He'd turned on his side, but he hadn't woken up. When she crawled into his bed on the other side-she finally gave in and admitted that no, she really didn't want to climb upstairs, and the bed looked so inviting-she took care to not move too much, and apparently she'd been successful because he was still sleeping.

Even thought she wasn't. By all rights, it was a crime, to not be able to fall asleep in that bed. It was wonderful. It was so heavenly, and the sheets felt so smooth and plush. But she laid there and just looked at him. He had a lock of hair that was falling over his forehead, and she wanted to run her fingers through it but she stopped herself because she didn't want to risk waking him up. He looked cute. But she was grateful for the chance to study him now, to just be with him while her mind was churning and she was getting used to the change in their relationship. In her feelings toward him.

Well, no, that wasn't entirely true. It was more like she was just starting to _recognize_ her feelings toward him. She, herself, had initiated several of the romantic encounters that they'd had, the touches, the kisses. She'd held back for so long, and he had too. And then, once they'd breached that barrier of that first kiss in the snow, it seemed that they were both circling around each other, just looking for an excuse to try it again. And they'd found many excuses.

But even though she'd finally agreed to go on a date, to be classified with him as _dating_, she was still unsure. What it all boiled down to was that she was scared. There was this person side of her, and unorthodox as it may be, he was one of her best friends, if not her absolute best friend. She needed him in her life; she knew that now, especially after having spent time apart. Yet they always found each other again, and they were better for it. He could see through her, and she realized the peace she sometimes felt knowing that, even though it scared the hell out of her at its most basic level. And right now they were good friends. They were there for each other when it counted, and they worked well together.

But what if that changed? Could she risk losing the friend she had in him?

And what if... She took a deep breath, not even wanting to think the thought that was trying to jump out and run around in her brain. She'd been trying not to think about it, or to acknowledge it for a while. But she was nowhere near sleep, so...

_What if he was the one? _What if he was that one person that she'd been waiting for her whole life, the one who made it all make sense, the one who was the missing half of her? He'd been there for years, and he started out as an annoyance, but she was just realizing that...what if he might be _it_? Her one and done?

At the thought, her breath caught in her lungs and she inhaled sharply just to get some air back into them. But her inhalation sounded so loud in the quiet room, and right afterwards, she found herself staring at two blue eyes, eyes that were now awake and were staring back at her.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he replied, and then yawned. When he looked back at her, he smiled.

"What?" she asked.

"You look..." he trailed off, and then reached over and trailed a fingertip down her cheek. "You're laying here with me, and the moonlight is hitting your face just right, and...I really like it." And then he moved over and gave her a tender little kiss, before moving his head back to where it had been on the pillow. That he 'liked it' wasn't what he really wanted to say, but anything else, anything more would have been pushing her, and he knew she didn't respond well to that.

The kiss that he gave her was so sweet that it almost brought tears to her eyes, especially given what she'd spent the last hour thinking about. "Rick..." she started, not even realizing that she didn't even have to think about calling him by his first name. It just came out naturally. But then nothing else would come out; she couldn't seem to form the right words.

He ran his finger down her cheek again. "Hmm? Just say it. You can tell me." He obviously saw that she was thinking about something, that she was conflicted about something.

She brought wary eyes to his again after closing them for a long blink, trying to get her nerve up. "What if..." She took another fortifying breath. "I don't want to mess this up, Rick," she whispered to him.

He looked at her and he could see the turmoil in her eyes. And because of what he saw, he knew they were talking about more than just the 'dating' that they had been talking about earlier. He felt it. "Hey. We won't." He tried to give her a little smile.

"You don't know that. I'm not...I don't open up to people very well. And I don't want to ruin what we already have. Our friendship. Our partnership."

"You won't ruin anything. We'll still be friends, partners, and now we'll just be...more. There's that chance, Kate. There's that shot that we could be something...really great together, on a different level. More."

"But what if we couldn't?"

"But what if we _could_? Kate, I..." He tried to choose his words carefully. "I feel something special with you. And you...I'm thinking...no, I'm _hoping_ that you feel it too because otherwise I don't think you'd be this worried."

She looked at him with big, serious eyes, and gave the slightest of nods. He did know her so well.

"So take a chance with me."

She just continued to look at him with those serious eyes. "I need...space."

His face fell. "Space? But we only just-"

"No," she shook her head into the pillow, "not space like that. Space, like, don't hover. Don't start planning...stuff. You know, trying to take over. Just give me space to be me.".

He visibly relaxed at her words. "Space. Okay, that kind of space I can do, as long as we can still give this a shot. And 'you' are the only person I want you to be. I wouldn't want anyone else. So I won't push. Well, I won't push you _too_ much," he finished softly, but with one of his disarming smiles.

But instead of his smile making her smile, she just looked worried again. "I really don't want to mess this up," she said again.

"You won't. I won't let you, because I want this. We'll just go slowly, okay?"

"Slowly?" How could he talk about slowly when their relationship had already moved light years ahead in just four days?

"Yes. Slowly. Nothing fast. We'll keep it simple. And we can go slowly, because we already know each other. We don't have to do that whole getting-to-know-you thing; you know, where you feel like you have to spend all of this time together right away to get to know someone better? There's no rush; we can just enjoy the new 'us'. Slowly."

She thought for a moment, and he was wondering where her mind was going when she didn't say anything right away. It was one of those times when he just couldn't read her. "Slowly sounds good," she finally said.

Relieved, he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He'd never before had any sort of relationship where the prospect of going slowly was so appealing. But then again, he'd never been in a relationship with Kate Beckett before. And if going slowly, not pushing her and giving her space was what was needed to maintain that relationship, then that was what he would do. And he was sure that he was going to love every minute of it.

She looked at him, and though tired, he looked almost happy. Giddy or something. What a strange man he was sometimes. But, strange or not, he was _her_ man now, wasn't he? And that thought made her smile at him just a little bit in return.

And they laid there in his bed, smiling at each other in the early part of the nighttime hours. Well, she was in his bed, although he was still on top of the bed.

"Can I have a goodnight kiss?" she asked him, biting her lip in that sexy way that she had mastered.

"You can have as many goodnight kisses as you want."

"Just one is fine. We're going slowly, remember?"

He winked at her. But then they leaned toward each other and, meeting in the middle, touched lips. It was a short kiss, as promised, but they both pulled back with slight smiles on their faces. Then, cupping her cheek, Rick whispered, "Good night," once more before he sat up. When he did that, she reached in back of her to the bedside table and grabbed her phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, somewhat puzzled as she fiddled with her phone.

"I'm setting my alarm, since you obviously can't be trusted to set yours properly. Four a.m., so you'll have plenty of time before Alexis gets up. Now get under the covers."

"In here?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes, in here. Before I change my mind."

He didn't need a second invitation. He pulled up the covers and settled in by her. When he stopped moving around, she asked him, "Are you in?"

Somehow, the way she said the words indicated that she was talking about more than him just being under the blankets. So he gave the only truthful answer that he could, and he nodded before he asked, "You?"

"Yeah, Rick, I'm in."

And she reached out for his hand and upon finding it, clasped it with her own. And shortly after that, they both drifted off to sleep, knowing that what they agreed to might not be easy all the time, but it would most certainly be worth all of the effort they put into it. They both could make 'more' work if they both wanted it badly enough. And as it was, both of them did want that. Very much. And that was more than enough for now.

-End-

* * *

_**There it is, ladies and gentleman, the end of Blizzard. **_

_**It has been a truly wonderful ride, and I've appreciated all of your awesome comments that I've gotten and still continue to get as new people find this story. Thank you all for sticking with me this long, especially through the hiatus this past summer. I appreciate it so much!**_

_**I just loved writing this story so much...I can't even tell you. This is a story that was only supposed to be two chapters originally. Then I liked it so much that I kept adding more onto it. But we find our dynamic duo back at home now, so this seemed to be a good place to end it. They bridged a gap in their relationship and became 'more than friends' during the course of the story, acknowledged that, and were looking forward to the future, even though they're maybe still a bit unsure of it. But rest assured, like I said above, there will be a sequel to this. I'll try to have the first chapter up soon. **_

_**It was kind of hard to write an ending to a story when you know there's more to come, and when you even have some of it written already. But it was an ending for this particular story, so I had to try to get a little bit of some kind of satisfied closure in there. I hope I achieved that. (And I hope the song references toward the end weren't too cheesy.)**_

_**One thing that I like (about this story) is that I tried to keep it 'clean'. I have some smut in my other stories, but I didn't want that for this one, and I'm kind of proud of that fact. And realistically, I didn't think it would be feasible for them to hop into bed together in the 4 day stretch during which this story takes place. There's too much other baggage to deal with first, and we had a lot of fun anyway (can anyone say cookie dough fights?), right?**_

**_(Now, if anyone wants to read something else of mine-something short-I cranked out a couple of one-shots while I was working on this last chapter. 'Hidden Meanings' is based off of the promo pics for 4x07, and 'Not a Stitch' is now an alternate ending for 4x05, although it was written before 4x05 aired. Check them out if you want to.)_**

_**So I'd love to hear what you think of the chapter. Over 600 alerts on this thing, so I know people are reading it, and again, I thank you all VERY much. :) **_


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